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CALIFORNIA          LIBRARY    OF   THE    UNIVERSITY   OF   CALIFORNIA 


HSITY   OF   CALIFORNIA         LIBRARY    OF   THE   UNIVERSITY   OF   CALIFORNIA 


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>^<3<H<3<H    s 


THE    LIFE 


OF 


BENJAMIN     F.    WADE 


A.   G.    RIDDLE 

Author  of  '  The  Life,  Character  and  Public  Sen>ices  of  James  A.  Garfieid ', 
'  Strtdents  and  Lawyers,'  Etc- 


CLEVELAND,  O. :  WILLIAM  W.  WILLIAMS 
1886 


COPYRIGHT,  1886, 
BY  W.  W.  WILLIAMS. 


All  Rights  Reserved. 


TO 

MRS.  CAROLINE  ROSEKRANS  WADE, 

THIS   SKETCH   OF   A 
VALUABLE,  EXALTED  AND   NOBLE   LIFE, 

TO  WHICH  SHE  CONTRIBUTED  SO  MUCH,  IS  INSCRIBED, 
WITH  THE  PROFOUNDEST  RESPECT. 

THE  AUTHOR. 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE. 

To  THE  READER.  ..     9 


CHAPTER  I  ................................................       n 

Some  Personal  Peculiarities.  —  Destroyed  Papers.  —  Opposed  all 
Ceremonies  and  Celebrations.  —  Medford,  Seat  of  the  Wades. 

—  Their  American  Ancestry.  —  Wades,   Dudleys,   Bradstreets.  — 
The  Tenth  Muse.  —  Day  of  Doom.  —  James  Wade.  —  Pre-Revo- 
lutionary  Times  and    Influences.  —  Bunker  Hill.  —  Privateering. 

—  Prison   Ship.  —  Mary    Upham.—  James  and    Mary.  —  Cousins 
Wedded.—  Feeding  Hill's  Home  and  Life.—  Birth  of  Benj.  F. 

—  Education.  —  Migration  of  the  Wades  to  Ohio. 

CHAPTER  II  ..............................................     42 

Planting  Puritans  in  Ohio.  —  South  and  North.—  Old  Grant  of 
Charles  II.  —  Connecticut's  Claim.  —  Ashtabula.  —  Andover.  — 
Pioneer  Life.—  The  Wade  Brothers'—  Lake  Erie.—  A  Drover.— 
Frank's  Trip  East.  —  Visits  his  Eldest  Brother.  —  Works  on  the 
Erie  Canal.  --Seward  Celebrates  him  in  the  Senate.—  Returns 
Home.  —  Studies  Law.  —  Law  and  Lawyers  of  that  Time.— 
James  and  Mary  Pass  Away. 

CHAPTER  III  ............................................  71 

Admitted  to  the  Bar.—  Jefferson.  —  The  Courts.  —  Trial  by  Jury.  — 
Helps  of  the  Lawyer.  —  Reports  of  that  Time.—  First  Case.  — 
Practice.  —Difficulties  in  Speaking.  —  Overcomes  Them.—  J.  R. 
Giddings.  —  Giddings  and  Wade.  —  Personal  Appearance.— 
Manners.—  Rudeness  of  Speech.  —  Religion.  —  Personal  Popu 
larity.  —  Many  Young  Imitators.  —  Financial  Disaster  of  1837.  — 
General  Ruin.  —  Wade  and  Ranney. 


22335 


6  CONTENTS. 

PAGE. 

CHAPTER  IV 95 

A  Freak  of  Fashion. — Old  Bachelor's  Romance. — Caroline  M. 
Rosekrans. — Parentage. — Her  Mother's  Second  Marriage. — 
General  Parsons. — Henry  E.  Parsons. — Removal  to  Ashtabula. 
— Caroline  Meets  Frank  Wade. — His  Speech. — Courtship  and 
Campaign  of  1840.  —Marriage. — Home  Life  at  Jefferson. — 
First  Meets  Fillmore.  — Elected  Judge. — His  Circuit  and  Labors. 
— Contest  with  the  State  Supreme  Court. — Taxation  of  Costs. — 
Retires  from  the  Bench. — Action  of  the  Bar. 

CHAPTER  V 117 

Slavery. — Summerset's  Case. — Trade  in  Negroes. — Clarkson. — 
Wilber force.— Slavery  Abolished  by  the  Northern  States. — 
Judge  Taney's  Words. — Slavery  not  before  Sectional. — Fugi 
tive  Slaves. — Quakers. — Maroons. — Change  of  Moral  Senti 
ment. — Louisiana  Admitted. — Missouri  Admitted. — Immediate 
Emancipation. — The  North  Still  Pro-Slavery. — Charles  Ham 
mond. — Theodore  Weld. — Lundy. — Garrison.— J.  G.  Birney. 
— J.  L.  Adams.— Ohio  Black  Laws.— Wade  in  the  Ohio  Sen 
ate. — Kentucky  Commissioners  to  Ohio. — Tin  Pan. — Speech 
on  the  Kentucky  Slave  Bill. — Gregory  Powers. — Defeated  for 
Re-election. — Re-election  in  1841. 

CHAPTER  VI 146 

Harrison  Campaign  of  1840. — Underestimate  of  It.— Political 
Parties  and  Leaders. — Whig  National  Convention,  December  4, 
1839. —Democratic.  May  5,  1840. — Issues.  —Thomas  Corwin. 
—Result.  —  Birney's  Vote. — J.  R.  Giddings  Enters  Twenty-sixth 
Congress. — Death  of  President  Harrison. — Censure  of  Adams. — 
Giddings. — Texas.— Election  of  1844.— Henry  Clay. — Birney's 
Vote.— Election  of  1848.— Free-soil  Party.— Vote  for  Van 
Buren.— Mr.  Giddings  Nominated  for  the  Senate. — Mr.  Chase 
Elected. — Ohio  Legislature. — Compromises  of  1850-51. — Fall 
of  Daniel  Webster. — Fugitive  Slave  Act  Denounced  by  Judge 
Wade. 

CHAPTER  VII 169 

The  Capital  in  1851. — Population  and  Character.— Congressional 

Life.— The  Thirty-second  Congress.— The  Senate.— The  House. 

— The  New  Senators. — Pen  Sketches. — Places  on  Committees. 

— Compromises   of    1850-51. — A    Final   Settlement. — Fillmore- 


CONTENTS.  7 

PAGE. 

Corwin.— Wade's  Speech  on  the  Collins  Subsidy.— General 
Cass.— Election  of  1852.— Conventions —Candidates.  —  Clay 
and  Webster.— Choat.— The  Free-soil  Party.— The  Popular 
Vote. — Thirty-third  Congress.  — New  Senators. — Pierce's  Mes 
sage. — Nebraska. — Kansas. —  Douglas-Chase-Wade  Speeches. 
—Bill  Passes  the  Senate.— Passes  the  House.— The  Vote.— The 
Globe. 

CHAPTER  VIII 201 

Struggles  on  Kansas  Soil.— Seven  Years'  War. —Thirty-fourth 
Congress. — Sumner  Assaulted.  —  Slidel. —  Douglas. —  Toombs 
Approves.— Is  denounced  by  Wade.— Dr.  Welling's  Account. 
— Wade  and  Toombs. — Wade  and  Clayton. — Burlingame  and 
Brooks. — 1856  Presidential  Election. — Fremont  —Buchanan. — 
Dred  Scott. — Thirty-fifth  Congress. — Wade's  Position. — Un 
conscious  Preparation.— Thirty-sixth  Congress.  —  Harper's  Fer 
ry. — Its  Investigation.— Wade's  Speeches. — John  Sherman. — 
Southern  Departure.  -1860. — The  Popular  Vote. — The  Pryor- 
Potter  Episode. 

CHAPTER  IX 237 

Mr.  Lincoln  and  the  Thirty-seventh  Congress.— Their  Labor.— 
Conditions. — Blair. — Wade. — Stevens.  —  Stanton.  — Seward. — 
Chase. — The  Cnttenden  Resolutions. — Extra  Session. — Bull 
Run. — Wade  There. — Committee  on  Conduct  of  the  War. — 
Congress  Clarified. — Virginia. — Dismembered. — Vallandigham 
and  the  Democracy. — Clamor  Against  "Mr.  Lincoln. — The  Davis- 
Wade  Manifesto. — The  Thirty-eighth  Conscription. — Schenck. 
— Garfield.  — Blaine. 

CHAPTER  X 268 

The  Conquered. — Task  of  the  Conquerors. — President  Johnson. 
— His  Reconstruction. — The  Thirty-ninth  Congress. — New 
Men. — Civil  Rights. — The  Fortieth  Congress.— New  Men. — 
Mr.  Stanton. — Impeachment  Managers. — The  Impeachment 
Court. —  The  Trial.  —  Speeches.  — Acquittal.  —  Congressional 
Reconstruction. — The  Freedmen.— The  Experiment  of  Their 
Use.— Mr.  Wade's  Retirement.— The  Close. 


TO  THE  READER. 

It  may  be  stated  that  this  sketch  of  an  eminent 
Western  Senator  was  written  in  detached  papers 
for  the  Magazine  of  Western  History.  That  peri 
odical  is  largely  devoted  to  the  beginnings, 
the  hitherto  unwritten  sources  of  history.  In 
something  of  the  spirit  of  that  work,  the  earlier 
of  my  chapters  were  composed — taking  note  of 
obscure  things,  having  but  a  general  influence  on  the 
fortunes  of  Mr.  Wade,  but  showing  a  flavor  of,  if  not 
the  spirit  of  the  times,  of  his  American  ancestors, 
and  of  the  first  half  of  his  own  life.  These  papers, 
unchanged,  with  headings,  make  the  chapters  of 
the  volume  here  presented  to  the  public.  Care 
has  been  taken  to  attribute  no  opinion  or  senti 
ment  to  Mr.  Wade  not  his.  He  is  nowhere  made 
responsible  for  the  notions  of  the  writer. 

In  my  mental  vision  he  stands  apart  from  his 
fellows,  a  heroic,  manly,  rugged,  unique  form,  of 
a  type  never  too  numerous,  and  now  so  rare  as  to 
seem  solitary ;  a  man  provoking  admiration, 


10  TO   THE  READER. 

commanding  respect,    gaining    entire  confidence 
without  consciously  seeking  either. 

The  writer  is  not  without  hope  that  his  pages 
will  realize  something  of  this  conception  to  a 
reader  who  may  make  a  study  of  the  influences 
which  gave  shape  to  the  colossal  forms  of  our  later 
history. 

A.  G.  R. 

WASHINGTON,  July,  1886. 


CHAPTER  I. 

Some  Personal  Peculiarities. — Destroyed  Papers. — Opposed  all  Cere 
monies  and  Celebrations. — Medford,  Seat  of  the  Wades. — Their 
American  Ancestry. — Wades,  Dudleys,  Bradstreets. — The  Tenth 
Muse. — Day  of  Doom. — James  Wade. — Pre-Revolutionary  Times 
and  Influences. — Bunker  Hill. — Privateering. — Prison  Ship. — Mary 
Upham.— James  and  Mary. — Cousins  Wedded. — Feeding  Hill's 
Home  and  Life. — Birth  of  Benj.  F. — Education. — Migration  of  the 
Wades  to  Ohio. 

BY  nature,  emulous  and  loving  praise,  man  is  the 
one  braggart  of  the  universe.  The  Hebrews  even 
clothed  their  Jehovah  with  this  quality  as  a  con 
trolling  attribute.  To  be  modest  is  more  rare  in 
man  than  woman,  and  is  a  mark  of  distinction  in 
him.  If  he  does  not  boast  of  his  achievements, 
we  laud  them  for  him  ;  and  when  a  distinguished 
man  dies,  scores  of  common  men  pull  themselves 
into  notice  by  the  hair  of  his  fallen  head  We 
boast  of  our  achievements  in  civilization,  and  are 
fond  of  measuring  the  distance  between  ourselves 
and  the  primitive  man,  yet  we  retain  many  of  the 
characteristics  of  the  veriest  savages.  We  build 
fires  to  attest  our  joy,  and  literally  make  huge  noises 
to  celebrate  our  achievements.  We  murder  and 
slay  as  savages  always  have,  and  build  up  a  pile  of 


12  B.  F.    WADE. 

senseless  stones  to  immortalize  our  greatest  man. 
To-day  we  complete  the  rock  monument  of  Wash 
ington;  we  celebrate  the  event  with  salvos  of  artil 
lery,  and  congratulate  ourselves  upon  a  great  deed 
accomplished.  We  have  secured  the  stone-immor 
tality  of  George  Washington,  and  have  done  our 
duty.  We  are  never  to  escape  the  age  of 
stone. 

As  a  rule,  men  are  remembered  as  long  as  they 
deserve  to  be.  A  man's  life  is  his  only  fitting 
monument.  What  irony  so  bitter  as  the  question  : 
"  Whose  monument  is  this  ?  "  The  man  has  dis 
appeared,  and  here  is  a  stone-exclamation  point 
against  inevitable  forgetfulness.  The  world  is  too 
busy  to  preserve  dead  leaves  even  as  specimens  ; 
let  them  rot  where  they  fall,  if  haply  the  earth 
may  be  fertilized  by  their  timely  decay. 

I  fear  my  present  work  will  hardly  be  distin 
guishable  from  a  very  ordinary  stone-heap  near  the 
grave  of  the  distinguished  dead,  whose  memory 
will  survive,  whatever  we  may  do  or  say,  with  that 
of  the  great  men  of  the  remarkable  time  in  which 

o 

he  lived  and  worked.  How  great  those  men  were, 
what  the  real  magnitude  of  the  events  of  their  time, 
we  may  never  know.  We  were  too  near  them,  too 
much  a  part  of  them,  whatever  may  be  our  powers 
of  observation,  to  correctly  estimate  their  value  and 
importance  in  the  world's  history  or  that  of  our 
own  country.  Hundreds  of  pens  are  now  busy 
inditing  what  the  writers  call  history.  When  the 
real  historian  comes,  fifty  or  one  hundred  years 


B.  F.    WADE.  13 

hence,  what  a  dusting  and  crumpling  of  waste  pa 
per  there  will  be  ! 

My  labors  will  be  of  a  man  of  the  most  singular 
and,  in  some  ways,  unfortunate  modesty.  In  no 
way  a  builder  of  dead  monuments,  he  was  seem 
ingly  a  careful,  persistent  destroyer  of  all  the  ordi 
nary  means  from  which  his  own  personal  history 
could  be  composed,  or  a  memoir  of  his  time  and 
associates  ;  an  abhorer  of  pageantry  of  every  kind 
for  all  occasions.  Men,  living  or  dead,  were  to  be 
left  as  their  lives  and  actions  left  them.  One  of 
the  propelling  forces  of  the  War  of  the  Rebellion — 
a  keen  observer,  seeing  the  best  and  worst  of  men, 
taking  their  best  as  no  more  than  their  country's 
due — he  was  no  lauder,  no  praiser,  always  speak 
ing  words  of  inspiration  ;  and,  one  of  the  few  just 
in  their  estimates  of  men,  he  shrank  from  all  pomp, 
all  parade  of  woe,  all  funereal  show  of  grief,  when 
they  fell  by  the  wayside. 

The  steadiest  and  most  .inflexible  as  the  most 
radical  of  the  supporters  of  the  national  cause, 
doing  fullest  justice  to  Mr.  Lincoln,  he  shrank 
from  the  sable  pageantry  over  his  remains.  In 
that  he  had  no  part ;  was  not  present  as  a  spec 
tator.  The  "catafalque,"  with  its  blackness  of 
drapery  and  sableness  of  plumes,  with  all  the 
weary  and  public  wail  of  woe,  were  to  him  mean 
ingless,  ludicrous,  vainest  mockery.  For  himself 
he  probably  never  instituted  a  comparison  between 
himself  and  another  ;  never  spent  a  moment  in 
estimating  the  quality  and  rank  of  his  own  actions 


14  B.  F.    WADE. 

in  the  minds  of  men.  It  was  his  fortune  to  be  as 
little  the  object  of  criticism,  through  a  long  con 
spicuous  career,  as  any  man  in  our  history.  To 
live  and  do  heartily,  with  all  his  might,  the  things 
which  came  to  his  hands  to  do,  never  shirking, 
however  onerous  ;  never  evading,  however  un 
pleasant  ;  seeking  and  meeting  the  hardest  and 
worst,  which  yet  some  man  must  do  ;  living  truth 
in  his  life,  doing  truth  in  his  acts,  speaking  truth 
in  his  words  ;  seeming  not  to  care  for  words  of 
blame  or  praise  ;  tender,  strong,  of  the  heroic  in 
mould  of  soul  and  heart,  he  lived,  did  his  work, 
died,  and  was  loved,  trusted,  feared  and  respected 
as  few  of  his  time  were,  and  will  be  remembered. 
The  least  secretive  of  men,  the  openest  of  approach, 
the  easiest  to  know,  and  one  of  the  widest  known  ; 
it  is  not  easy,  save  in  these  broad,  strong  lines  to 
sketch  him,  or  tell  the  story  of  his  real  life,  so  that 
the  younger  generation,  the  men  who  did  not 
know  him,  will  yet  appreciate  him  for  what  he 
intrinsically  was?)  He  was  a  sayer  of  things  to  be 
repeated,  a  doer  of  things  to  be  told  of.  No  one 
followed  him  around  to  note  and  preserve  these  ; 
no  one  has  gleaned  them  up  for  a  book.  They 
are  already  matters  of  tradition.  No  man  of  his 
time  wrote  and  left  so  few  memorials  of  himself. 
He  left  none  ;  no  sign  or  mark.  Seemingly  with 
out  the  slightest  literary  instinct,  the  few  papers 
he  made  were  for  a  special  purpose  ;  that  answered, 
they  were  destroyed.  He  seems  systematically 
to  have  destroyed  papers.  He  kept  no  journal, 


B.  F.    WADE.  15 

made  no  diary,  notes  or  memoranda.  At  the  end 
of  a  session  or  campaign,  letters  and  papers  of  all 
descriptions,  not  in  the  form  of  printed  books, 
were  burned.  _,  Though  a  born  warrior,  no  man  so 
hated  strife  and  every  species  of  personal  warfare. 
He  never  had  any.  If  differences  arose,  he  set 
tled  them  at  once  in  the  most  direct  and  decisive 
way  ;  ended  them  so  that  nothing  remained — 
neither  bitterness  nor  scandal.  This  disposition 
to  make  a  total  final  end  of  things  was  at  the  bot 
tom  of  his  destruction  of  papers.  If  saved,  some 
body  would  want  to  pry  into  them,  re-open  old 
wounds,  renew  old  strifes.  Cut  off  all  sources  of 
evidence,  and  the  thing  would  have  to  die.  With 
him  private  history — the  history  of  common  men, 
the  men  with  whom  he  daily  associated — was  of 
no  account.  It  was  a  history  of  strifes  and  bick 
erings,  of  failures,  at  the  best.  Let  it  perish.  It 
was  not  necessary  to  the  public  history,  the  na 
tional  annals,  and  he  governed  himself  accordingly. 
So  he  seldom  or  never  spoke  of  himself  to  others, 
save  sparingly  to  the  most  intimate.  Though  a 
man  of  thought,  he  was  a  man  of  action,  of  deeds, 
not  of  words  and  letters ;  and  such,  in  the  main, 
were  his  associates.  A  few  instances  of  literary 
men  who  approached  him  for  a  purpose  may  have 
occurred.  Their  reception  was  not  encouraging, 
and  few  save  newspaper  correspondents  made  him 
the  subject  of  literary  labors.  Though  he  did  not 
at  all  share  in  the  elder  Senator  Cameron's  attrib 
uted  estimate  of  literary  men,  he  did  not  seek, 


16  B.  F.    WADE. 

nor  was  he  sought  by  them.  Busy,  content  to  do 
his  work,  doing  more  and  doing  better  than  was 
given  to  good  workers,  and  when  done,  leaving  it 
for  the  use  and  help  it  might  be  without  an  ac 
companying  word  of  explanation  of  his  motive,  he 
permitted  others  to  take  the  credit  of  it  if  they 
would.  So  he  made  his  active,  robust  way,  push 
ing  intermeddlers  out  of  it,  dealing  with  the  mo 
mentous  issues  of  his  time  unhesitatingly,  boldly, 
wisely,  at  the  centre  of  life  and  strength,  careless 
of  nothing  save  what  was  said  of  him,  or  the  part 
he  played  in  the  great  events  of  the  great  epoch. 
When  his  share  of  the  work  was  done,  when  the 
underlying  causes  which  changed  somewhat  the 
configuration  of  the  continent  perished,  without 
thought  or  care  of  how  history  might  deal  with 
him  and  his  share  in  affairs,  anxious  only  that 
what  was  gained  should  not  be  lost,  he  died.  ) 

Such  a  man  was  not  the  product  of  accident. 
Such  men  never  can  be.  Causes  through  genera 
tions  must  conspire  to  such  results,  the  science  of 
which  is  still  to  be  searched  out  and  formulated. 
We  trace  his  parentage  back  through  the  four  or 
five  generations  of  Englishmen  in  America,  of 
whom  the  history  of  the  planting-time  of  New 
England  makes  honorable  mention.  A  long-lived, 
tough,  sinewy  strain  of  men  and  women  of  varied 
endowments  contributed  their  modified  qualities 
to  his  make-up  and  furnishing-forth  ;  men  and 
women  themselves  to  be  changed,  wrought,  per 
fected,  by  the  severest  of  Puritan  schools,  in  the  rig- 


B.  F.    WADE.  17 

orous  climate  and  ungenerous  soil  of  Massachu 
setts,  in  its  struggle  for  place  and  existence  among 
new  and  old  peoples. 

X_Ancient  Medford,  five  or  six  miles  to  the  north 
west  of  more  ancient  Boston,  at  the  head  of  navi 
gation  of  the  small  Mystic  river,  which  came  to 
be  famous  for  ship-building,  was  the  Massachusetts 
seat  of  the  Wades.  Thither  came  Jonathan  Wade 
from  county  of  Norfolk  (country  of  the  Norse 
folk),  England,  in  1632.  He  seems  for  a  time  to 
have  been  at  Ipswich,  where  he  was  a  freeman  in 
1634.  He  receives  much  and  honorable  mention 
in  the  history  of  Medford.  At  what  time  he 
transferred  himself  to  the  latter  place  does  not 
appear,  probably  some  years  later;  for  we  find 
him  buying  four  hundred  acres  of  land  on  the 
south  side  of  the  river,  near  Medford  bridge,  Oc 
tober  2,  1656,  of  one  Matthew  Avery  of  Ipswich. 
He  is  spoken  of  as  Major  Wade,  a  man  of  wor 
ship,  who  paid  the  largest  tax  of  any  man  in  Med 
ford.  He  gave  the  town  a  landing  about  1680, 
one  of  several  which  Medford  had.  It  is  said  the 
house  he  built  and  dwelt  in  there,  though  a 
wooden  structure,  was  in  a  sound,  habitable  con 
dition  in  1855.  Nothing  is  said  of  his  wife  or 
children  save  one.  He  died — one  authority  says 
in  1683,  another,*  in  1689.  He  was  the  father  of 
Major  Nathaniel  Wade,  the  date  of  whose  birth  is 
not  given.  The  history  mentions  this  Nathaniel. 
Dealing  with  churches,  it  gives  this  curious  origin 
of  pews  in  "meeting-houses"  in  New  England. 


18  B.  F.    WADE. 

To  call  the  place  of  worship,  made  of  sticks  and 
stones,  a  church  savored  too  much  of  papacy, 
episcopacy,  prelacy,  for  the  severe  Puritan,  who, 
as  is  historic,  made  these  structures  like  his  re 
ligion,  as  ugly  and  uncomfortable  as  might  be. 
He  did  not  believe  in  helps  to  virtue  and  religion... 
Both  were  rendered  as  forbidding  as  possible.  No 
artificial  means  of  heating  their  dreary  meeting 
houses  was  permitted  ;  but  when  the  proximity 
.to  fires,  which  have  since  generally  died  out, 
where  their  ministers  kept  them,  is  remembered, 
the  rigors  of  even  a  New  England  winter  went  for 
little.  By  vote  of  the  town  on  his  petition,  it  was 
ordered — "  May  25,  1696,  Major  Nathaniel  Wade 
shall  have  liberty  to  build  a  pew  in  the  meeting 
house,  when  he  shall  see  reason  to  do  so."  Of 
course  he  was  to  weigh  well  the  deed.  This  ex 
traordinary  concession  marks  the  estimation  in 
which  he  was  held  at  Medford.  He  has  another 
and  much- stronger  claim  upon  our  consideration. 
His-w'ife  was  the  daughter  of  Governor  Bradstreet 
and  Anne  Dudley  Bradstreet,  the  famous  New 
England  poetess,  in  her  time  called  "The  Tenth 
Muse,"  and  a  daughter  of  Governor  Thomas  Dud 
ley.  '~-  These  are  persons  entitled  to  a  moment's 
attention  on  their  own  account,  and  especially  as 
their  descendant  is  to  be  the  subject  of  our  literary 
labors. 

Dudley  was  a  great  name  in  older  English  his 
tory.  It  was  no  less  conspicuous  in  newer  Eng 
lish  annals.  It  was  the  name  of  several  royal  and 


£.  F.    WADE.  19 

other  officers  in  Massachusetts.  Of  these,  Thomas 
Dudley  was  born  in  Northampton,  England,  in 
1576.  In  1630  he  was  sent  to  Massachusetts  as 
deputy  governor,  chosen  governor  in  1634,  '40 
and  '45,  died  at  Roxbury  in  1652,  a  man  of  the 
sternest  Puritan  integrity.  He  had  a  son  Joseph, 
who  was  successively  chief-justice  of  Massachusetts 
and  New  York,  governor  of  the  Isle  of  Wight, 
and  finally  governor  of  Massachusetts  from  1702 
to  1715.  So  Joseph's  son,  Paul,  was  chief-justice 
of  Massachusetts. 

Anne  Dudley,  daughter  of  Governor  Thomas 
and  sister  of  Governor  Joseph,  was  born  in  1612. 
She  seems  to  have  been  carefully  reared,  as  be 
came  a  gentlewoman.  Her  father  was  attached 
to  the  service  of  the  Earl  of  Lincoln,  and  she 
spent  much  of  her  short  girlhood  at  his  castle 
of  Sempringham,  and  was  married  at  sixteen. 
Simon  Bradstreet,  her  husband,  was  nine  years 
older,  and  was  also  reared  in  the  the  austere 
religious  family  of  the  earl.  The  young  people 
were  for  years  members  of  the  family,  and  their 
marriage  was  a  love  match.  That  occurred  in 
1628,  and  two  years  later  they  were  of  the  wealthy 
and  well-born  party  who  entered  upon  the  coloni 
zation  of  Massachusetts  and  reached  the  province 
in  1630.  Bradstreet  was  of  a, good  Suffolk  family. 
The  coming  away  of  these  wealthy,  carefully 
reared  people  from  the  luxury  of  Old  England  to 
the  savagery  and  penury  of  the  New,  was  a  sore 
trial,  and  to  none  more  so  than  to  the  tender 


20  B.  F.    WADE. 

child-wife,  who  had  a  scholarly  taste  for  learning 
and  a  poet's  relish  for  refinement,  pleasant  sur 
roundings  and  culture.  She  must  have  recoiled, 
as  we  know  she  did,  from  the  rude,  wild  forms  of 
life  in  the  rocky,  sterile  wilderness  of  New  Eng 
land.  Notwithstanding  she  saw  the  hand  of  God 
in  it,  all  her  life  was  a  subdued  wail  of  a  homesick 
heart. 

The  first  edition  of  her  poems,  which  were  ex 
tensive,  was  published  in  London  in  1650,  and  a 
third  edition  in  1658.  They  were  brought  out  in 
our  time  at  Charlestown,  in  a  fine  edition,  in  1867, 

Of  her  children  she  sang  : 

"I  had  eight  birds  hatch'd  in  the  nest  ; 
Four  cocks  there  were,  and  hens  the  rest  ; 
I  nursed  them  up  with  pious  care, 
For  cost  nor  labor  did  I  spare, 
Till  at  last  they  felt  the  wing, 
Mounted  the  trees  and  learned  to  sing." 

She  was  a  fine  prose  writer,  and  not  without 
poetic  instincts.  Her  genius  was  too  weak  to  es 
cape  the  vicious  poetic  forms  and  .spirit  of  her 
time.  Her  work  was  cast  in  the  quaint  and  dreary 
mould  of  that  age,  and  was  neither  worse  nor  bet 
ter  than  its  good  average.  Her  dialogues  between 
Old  England  and  New,  between  the  four  elements, 
a  long  allegory,  would  be  melancholy  reading 
now.  "  Contemplation,"  a  later  production,  is 
now  esteemed  her  best  poem. 

Simon  Bradstreet  was  governor  when  the  char 
ter  was  annulled,  in  1686  ;  was  again  elected  when 
that  worthy,  Governor  Andros,  was  deposed  and 


B.  F.    WADE.  21 

imprisoned,  in  1689,  and  held  the  place  till  the  ar 
rival  of  rough  and  sturdy  Sir  William  Phipps,  in 
1692,  who  brought  out  the  new  charter.  He  was 
a  prudent,  plain,  strong-minded  man,  and,  if  he 
thought  Massachusetts  was  unable  to  resist  Charles 
II,  whom  he  was  sent  to  congratulate  on  his  ac 
cession,  he  was  untouched  with  the  Salem  witch 
craft  craze.  Anne  died  September  16,  1672  ;  her 
husband  survived  till  1697. 

Mercy  Bradstreet,  daughter  of  Anne,  and  Major 
Nathaniel  Wade  were  married  October  31,  1672, 
and  had  liberty  later  to  set  up  a  family  pew  in  the 
meeting-house.  That  he  saw  reason  to,  is  mat 
ter  of  inference. 

To  these,  with  other  children,  was  born  Brad- 
street  Wade,  in  1681,  at  Medford — the  parents 
dying,  the  father  in  1707,  the  mother  eight  years 
later.  Bradstreet  Wade  became  the  husband  of 
Lydia  Newhall,  October  17,  1706,  and  died  De 
cember  9,  1738.  His  son  Samuel  saw  the  light 
April  21,  1715,  married  Martha  Upham,  daugh 
ter  of  James  Upham  and  Dorothy  Wigglesworth, 
December  2,  1741.  These  were  the  parents  of 
James  Wade,  the  father  of  our  Benjamin  Franklin 
Wade.  James  Wade's  grandmother,  Dorothy 
Wigglesworth,  was  the  daughter  of  the  Reverend 
Michael  Wigglesworth,  a  remarkable  man,  and 
also  a  poet  of  no  mean  power.  His  principal  work, 
the  'Day  of  Doom,'  saves  his  name  from  oblivion. 
He  was  born  in  England  in  1631,  was  carried  to 
Charlestown,  Massachusetts,  when  seven  years 


22  B.  F.    WADE. 

old,  graduated  at  Harvard  1651,  and  was  settled 
over  the  church  at  Maiden,  Massachusetts,  1656. 
His  famous  poem  was  first  published  in  1662,  and 
was  for  a  century  and  a  half  the  most  popular  lit 
erary  production  of  New  England,  going  through 
many  editions  in  various  popular  forms,  the  latest 
in  1867.  It  is  the  most  lurid  and  direful  array  of 
terrors  and  horrors  ever  made  to  jostle  and  jingle 
in  jerky  rhyme,  and  became  at  once  the  burning 
fountain  for  images  and  figures  of  speech  of  the 
turgid  Puritan  pulpit  eloquence  of  New  England, 
as  it  is  now  the  museum  of  the  burnt  out  and  fos 
silized  remains  of  that  volcanic  age  of  theology. 
Committed  to  memory,  recited,  quoted  on  all  oc 
casions,  it  had  much  to  do  in  forming  the  common 
mind  and  character  of  the  people.  Slight  speci 
mens  will  show  its  qualities,  imaginative  and  lit 
erary. 

Thus  the  day  dawns  : 

For  at  midnight  breaks  forth  a  light 

Which  turns  the  night  to  day, 
And  speedily  an  hideous  cry 

Doth  all  the  world  dismay. 

Many  pages  of  this  measure  and  form,  and  the 
final  trump  sounds  and  there  is  a  general  scramble 
of  course.  As  a  good  many  had  reasons  for  not 
caring  to  appear  for  trial,  a  swarm  of  fast-winged 
bailiffs  are  sent  to  prod  them  into  court,  when  the 
sheep  are  divided  off  and  business  opens  rather 
briskly.  The  saints  are  first  attended  to,  and  dis 
patched  to  their  thrones,  nothing  loth  to  take  part 


B.   F.    WADE.  23 

in  judging  the  sinners.  Business  first ;  pleasure 
follows.  Sinners  are  disposed  of  in  classes  for  ex 
pedition.  Finally  reprobate  infants  are  reached  : 

Then  to  the  bar  they  all  draw  near 

Who  died  in  infancy, 
And  never  had  of  good  or  bad 

Effected  personally  ; 

But  from  the  womb  unto  the  tomb 

Were  straightway  carried, 
Or,  at  the  least,  e'er  they  trangressed, 

Who  thus  begun  to  plead  : 

Poor,  deserted  things  !  Left  to  their  own  re 
sources,  it  must  be  confessed  they  made  a  stout 
case  of  it.  They  could  not  see,  any  more  than 
can  we,  why  they  should  burn  eternally  on  Adam's 
account,  especially,  as  the  old  gentleman  himself 
sat  near  by  on  a  very  comfortable  throne.  How 
ever,  according  to  Wigglesworth,  God  found  little 
difficulty  in  brushing  away  their  baby  arguments, 
which  he  is  made  to  do  in  this  luminous  way  : 

You,  sinners  are  ;  and  such  a  share 

As  sinners  may  expect  ; 
Such  you  shall  have  ;  for  I  do  save 

None  but  mine  own  elect. 

This  must  have  been  satisfactory.  However, 
he  concludes  on  the  whole : 

Yet  to  compare  your  sin  with  their, 

Who  lived  a  longer  time, 
I  do  confess  yours  is  much  less, 

Though  every  sin's  a  crime. 

A  crime  it  is  ;  therefore  in  bliss 

You  many  not  hope  to  dwell, 
But  unto  you  I  shall  allow 

The  easiest  room  in  hell. 


24  B.  F.    WADE. 

This  was  letting  the  poor  things  off  easy  con 
sidering  the  enormity  of  their  offenses,  and  doubt 
less  exceptionally  tender-hearted  devils  were 
assigned  as  nurses.  Finally  the  whole  host  are 
disposed  of,  and  God  is  made  to  call  the  Redeemer 
and  Saviour  to  dispose  of  those  he  tried  to  redeem 
and  save.  I  may  give  but  four  of  the  many  lines 
in  which  the  final  judgment  is  pronounced : 

But  get  away  without  delay, 

Christ  pities  not  your  cry  ; 
Depart  to  hell ;  there  may  you  dwell 

And  roar  eternally. 

Of  their  fortunes  after  being  thus  disposed  of, 
the  poet  gives  us  this  glowing  picture : 

They  live  to  lie  in  misery 

And  bear  eternal  woe  ; 
And  live  they  must  while  God  is  just 

That  he  may  plague  them  so. 

Of  course,  having  enjoyed  the  sight  of  these 
comforting  spectacles,  the  saints  in  fitting  strains, 
are  dismissed  to  bliss  generally.  Cotton  Mather 
said  the  '  Day  of  Doom  '  would  be  read  in  New 
England  till  its  pictures  were  realized  by  the  event* 
Michael  had  a  son  Samuel,  who  seems  to  have 
been  capable  of  poetry  in  a  milder  form — real 
poetry — but  who  contented  himself  with  the  office 
and  duties  of  a  country  parson.  The  author  of  the 
1  Day  of  Doom  '  was  equal  to  different  work.  His 
daughter  Dorothy,  as  we  have  seen,  was  the 
grandmother  of  our  B.  F.  Wade. 

*  Whoever  would  know  more  of  the  two  greatest  New  England  poets 
of  colonial  times  should  read  what  is  said  of  them  in  Professor  Tyler's 
admirable  '  History  of  American  Literature,'  not  yet  concluded. 


B.  F.   WADE.  25 


J; 


[ames  Wade  was  born  at  Medford,  still  the  seat 
of  the  Wades,  July  8,  1750,  and  would  lack  four 
days  of  being  twenty-six  on  the  declaration  of 
independence.  His  birth  was  at  the  beginning 
of  a  noisy,  stirring  period.  He  was  four  years  old 
when  Washington  fought  the  first  battle  that 
opened  the  wide,  long  desolating  war,  one  result 
of  which  was  the  transfer  of  Canada  to  England 
and  establish  British  dominion  in  America.  It 
was  a  day  of  adventure.  Medford  was  an  old 
town,  was  within  reach  of  the  salt  wafts  of  the 
ocean.  Though  born  in  1750,  and  living  till  1826 
— when  the  writer  of  these  sketches  was  ten  years 
old — with  a  son  still  living,  no  one  has  told  us  the 
manner  of  boy  or  man  he  was.  Hardy,  robust, 
sinewy,  right-headed,  he  must  have  been,  and 
well  educated,  for  such  as  passed  for  education 
outside  of  Harvard.  He  grew  up  in  the  intensely 
patriotic  atmosphere  of  stormy  Boston,  during  the 
pre-revolutionary  years.  Heard  the  Adamses, 
Otis  and  Warren,  in  old  Taneuil — not  then  so 
old  ;  was  there  through  the  times  of  the  stamps, 
the  destruction  of  the  tea,  the  Boston  massacre — 
always  to  be  a  massacre,  though  a  jury  of  Middle 
sex  county  acquitted  the  officers  and  soldiers  who 
committed  it.  He  daily  saw  the  red-coated  sol 
diers  about  the  streets  of  Boston,  and  hated  them 
for  what  they  stood  for  ;  was  to  see  more  of  them, 
as  they  were  to  see  him,  elsewhere  and  full  soon. 
The  lithe  young  Englishman  of  American  birth 
and  nervous  organization  was  early  a  member  of 


26  B.  F.   WADE. 

a  train-band,  an  adept  in  the  manual  of  arms. 
Think  of  a  youth  thus  nurtured  and  growing  up. 
Of  course,  he  was  at  the  first  facing  of  the  hostile 
elements,  not  in  the  least  premature,  where  the 
flash  of  the  British  muskets  was  met  by  the  answer 
ing  flash  of  the  armed  patriots,  flash  for  flash,  at 
Concord  ;  and  so  on  to  Lexington,  and  at 
the  decisive  Bunker  Hill's  epoch-making  bat 
tle,  decisive  that  war  was  to  be  and  so  an  end, 
which  was  also  a  beginning  greater  than  the  end 
it  followed.  He  could  hardly  fail  of  a  predilection 
for  the  sea,  and  we  next  see  him  on  board  a 
privateer  and  a  prisoner,  after  various  adventures. 
Privateering  was  then  a  universally  recognized 
means  of  public  war,  though  dealt  with  by  the 
royal  cruisers  as  but  one  remove  from  piracy. 
Our  maternal  foe  was  not  eminent  for  clem 
ency  to  rebels  taken  in  arms,  and  distinguished 
against  those  taken  on  private  armed  ships, 
though  sailing  under  letters  of  marque  all  squarely. 
James  Wade  was  carried  to  Halifax,  where, 
languishing  for  an  unknown  period,  he  was  trans 
ferred  to  a  prison  ship  of  the  ' '  Jersey  prison  ship  " 
class,  place  of  nameless  horrors.  Here  he  and  his 
fellows  conspired  against  their  jailers,  overcame, 
captured  them  and  their  "  old  prison  hulk,"  and 
made  good  their  escape  to  freedom  and  more  war. 
Restless,  adventurous,  he  gave  his  time  and  ener 
gies  to  the  war  when  not  in  prison.  When  that 
was  ended,  like  the  country  he  was  impoverished, 
and  turned  to  peaceful  pursuits,  with  the  habits 


B.  F.   WADE.  27 

and  modes  of  thought  formed  fry  his  many  years 
as  a  soldier,  sailor  and  adventurer. 

His  mother,  was  Martha  Upham,  as  will  be 
remembered,  daughter  of  James  Upham.  She 
had  a  brother,  Edward  Upham,  a  graduate  of 
Harvard  in  1734,  and  curiously  enough,  he  became 
a  Baptist  clergyman  and  was  settled  first  at  New 
port,  Rhode  Island — that  Baptist  colony  and  state. 
He  was  one  of  the  trustees  of  Brown  University ; 
was  offered  the  first  presidency  of  it,  which  he 
declined.  Later  he  made  his  way  back  to  Massa 
chusetts  and  established  himself  at  West  Spring 
field,*  on  the  west  side  of  the  Connecticut  river. 
That  region  in  western  Massachusetts  was  then 
new,  remote  and  rude.  Just  when  he  settled  there 
is  not  apparent. 

The  narrow,  winding,  lovely  valley  of  the  Con 
necticut  was  always  very  fertile,  while  on  each 
side  of  it  the  country  rises  into  a  hilly,  almost 
mountainous  region,  rocky,  with  a  starved,  sandy 
soil,  soon  exhausted. 

Rev.  Edward  Upham 's  youngest  daughter  was 
a  winsome  maiden,  though  no  longer  young,  born 
at  Newport  in  1752,  when  her  cousin  James,  with 
the  romance  of  his  career,  made  his  way  to  visit 
his  uncle,  amid  the  breezy  hills  of  West  Spring 
field.  Just  where  they  first  met — probably  long 
before — or  under  what  circumstances,  no  one  has 
told  us.  They  were  cousins,  which  made  court- 

*  The  early  colonists  had  the  English  way  of  repeating  names  of 
places  with  the  prefix  north,  south ,  east,  west. 


28  B.  F.   WADE. 

ship  easy.  No  one  has  told  us  a  word  of  that. 
Easy  or  hard,  they  were  married  January  15,  1781, 
and  made  their  home  in  "  Feeding  Hills"  parish, 
a  few  miles  southerly  of  West  Springfield.  The 
name  Feeding  Hills  may  still  be  found  on  the 
larger  maps  of  Massachusetts,  as  a  small  town. 
A  thin,  sandy-soiled,  rocky,  hilly  country,  abound 
ing  in  trout  streams,  its  principal  products  were 
fine  scenery,  huckleberries  and  wintergreens.  It 
was  a  region  early  devoted  to  wild  pasturage  for 
kine-herds  of  the  more  favored  valley  and  other 
adjacent  places,  and  hence  the  name. 

At  the  marriage  of  these  thus  descended  En 
glish  cousins,  James  Wade  was  thirty-one  years 
old,  and  we  may  assume  that  Mary,  the  daughter 
of  a  Baptist  clergyman  of  West  Springfield,  was 
Vrich  only  in  person,  intellect,  piety,  womanly 
qualities  and  graces,  educated  for  the  subordinate 
position  then  assigned  generally  to  woman,  even 
in  the  family.  There  is  ample  testimony  to  her 
unusual  excellence  as  a  woman  of  very  considerable 
mental  endowment,  judgment,  fine  sense,  steady 
courage  and  wifely  devotion.  As  a  mother  she 
ranked  with  the  noblest.  She  had  need  for  the 
exercise  of  all  her  faculties  in  the  place  to  which 
she  -was  assigned  in  life,  where,  as  everywhere, 
when  she  perforrns  her  duty,  woman's  place  is 
the  least  favored.^J 

At  what  time  the  young  pair  set  up  their 
homestead,  amid  the  outlying  Feeding  Hills,  we 
are  not  told,  nor  of  the  kind  of  habitation  they 


B.  F.   WADE.  29 

occupied.  We  know  it  was  humble,  and  that  the 
implements  of  the  young  housewife  were  simple 
and  primitive.  No  one  has  told  us  of  the  home- 
faring  of  this  family.  Human  life  is  essentially 
the  same  under  all  conditions,  admitting  its  con 
tinuance.  Individuals  adjust  themselves  to  their 
various  surroundings  and  unconsciously  work  out 
a  portion  of  the  as  yet  unsolved  problem.  Strait 
ened  as  were  their  circumstances,  we  know  their 
life  was  robust  and  healthful.  To  toil  early  and 
late,  steadily,  persistently,  for  bread,  meat  and 
raiment,  wrung  from  an  ungenial  soil,  with  little 
perceptible  gain  or  advance,  save  in  years,  and 
increasing  mouths  to  feed,  bodies  to  clothe  and 
shelter,  was  the  changeless  though  ever-growing 
task  of  James  till  old  age  came  upon  him  in  the 
barren,  rocky  hills. 

To  bear,  nurse  and  rear  children ;  to  econo 
mize,  contrive  and  eke  out  from  scantiest  stores 
and  meet  the  ever  increasing  demand  with  small 
est  increase  of  supply;  to  be  first  up  ere  dawn 
and  the  last  to  retire,  caring  for  the  infants 
during  the  night ;  to  work  and  toil  early,  lose  her 
girlish  comeliness  ;  to  love  and  fear  God,  with  the 
awful  fear  of  the  Puritan  ;  to  rear  her  children  in 
that  fear ;  to  trust  and  doubt  and  hope  for  them, 
watch  their  unfolding  minds,  their  dispositions, 
hearts  and  morals,  till  years  enfeebled  her — was 
the  life  of  Mary.*  Forty  years  of  this  life  amid 


*  Current   biography   makes   scanty   mention  of  the   mother,  often 
omits  all   notice  of  wife  and   marriage.     Whoever   thus  writes   has 


30  B.  F.  WADE. 

the  grim,  rocky  hills,  scrub  pines  and  cedars,  and 
the  family  sought  a  new  home  in  the  newer  New 
England  of  the  northern  Ohio  woods  of  the  Re 
serve,  from  1781  to  1821. 

[To  these  parents  were  born  eleven  children,  all 
in  the  Feeding  Hills  home.  Of  these  the  four 
eldest  were  girls.  Their  names  and  dates  of  birth 
were  as  follows  : 

Martha  Upham  Wade,  born  August  24,  1782. 
She  became  the  wife  of  Corlleain  Brigden,  and 
died  at  Andover,  Ohio. 

Nancy  Wade,  born  July  2,  1784,  and  died  in 
infancy. 

Nancy  Wade,  second,  born  February  26,  1786, 
became  the  wife  of  John  Picket,  and  died  also  in 
Andover. 

Mary  Wade,  born  September  2,  1787,  married 
William  Bettis,  and  died  in  Andover. 

James  Wade,  born  June  5,  1789.  For  his  first 
wife  he  had  Sally  Mulford,  for  his  second  Eliza 
beth  Hughes.  He  died  in  1868.  . 

Charles  Wade,  born  April  22,  1791,  died  in 
infancy. 

Samuel  Sidney  Wade,  born  May  11,  1793, 
married  Emily  Cadwell,  died  at  Andover. 

Theodore  Leonard  Wade,  born  March  13,  1797, 
three  times  married.  His  second  wife  was  Au- 

failed  to  make  a  study  of  the  most  important  factors  of  a  man's  life. 
Next  in  importance  to  birth  is  his  marriage,  and  the  wife  shares  with 
the  mother  the  labor  and  responsibility  of  shaping  his  fortunes  and 
destinies. 


B.  F.   WADE.      .  31 

gusta  Bettis,  a  cousin.  A  daughter  by  this 
wife  became  Mrs.  Schuyler  Colfax.  His  third 
was  also  a  cousin.  He  died  in  Andover. 

Charles  H.  Wade,  born  December  8,  1798. 
He  married  Julietta  Spear,  who  bore  him  three 
children.  He  is  the  sole  survivor  of  the  family 
living  in  Andover.* 

Benjamin  Franklin  Wade,  born  October  27, 
1800. 

Edward  Wade,  born  November  22,  1802,  twice 
married.  First  to  Sarah  Louise  Atkins.  His 
second  was  Mary  P.  Hall.  He  died  in  1866. 

Eleven  children,  four  girls  and  seven  boys, 
with  twenty  years  difference  between  the  oldest 
and  the  youngest !  Curiously  enough,  no  name 
of  any  of  the  distinguished  ancestors  appears 
among  the  boys,  save  Edward.  Not  a  Dudley, 
Bradstreet  or  Upham.  Martha  Upham  and 
Nancy  of  the  female  line.  Nor  is  there  a  Jona 
than  or  Nathaniel.  A  tough,  long-lived  family 
and  race !  All  married  and  affectionate,  remain 
ing  together  in  the  bosom  of  the  Feeding  Hills, 
and  making  their  new  homes  together  in  Ohio,  all 
save  the  eldest  bearing  his  father's  name.  By 
popular  legend  Edward,  a  seventh  son  in  un 
broken  succession,  was  born  to  happy  fortune. 
His  last  years  were  the  saddest  that  can  fall  to 
man.  He  died  of  softening  of  the  brain. 

The  year  1800  is  a  handy  year  to  date  from,  as 
is  that  of  the  birth  year  of  Frank's  father,  the  half 

*  April,  1885. 


32         .  B.  F.   WADE. 

century  year  before.  Edward,  the  youngest,  was 
a  scarcely  less  remarkable  man  than  Frank,  in 
some  ways  fully  his  equal.  The  mysteries  of 
transmission  and  reproduction  are  still  elusive. 
That  must  be  a  fine  strain  of  men  and  women, 
and  that  must  have  been  a  remarkable  family, 
where  the  tenth  and  eleventh  were  of  the  quality 
of  Frank-)*  and  Edward  Wade.  There  are  none 
now  to  tell  us  the  manner  of  child  Frank  was,  this 
greatest  of  the  descendants  of  the  Dudleys,  the 
Bradstreets,  the  Wades,  Wigglesworths  and  Up- 
hams.  He  would  well  repay  a  study  if  the  mate 
rial  existed.  Great  men  always  arise  in  unlocked 
for  homesteads.  There  is  nothing  to  mark  them. 
No  man  probably  could  now,  of  all  the  living  boys, 
name  one  of  the  one  hundred  remarkable  men  of 
this  country  forty  years  hence.  It  is  only  when 
one  has  achieved  distinction  that  an  effort  is  made 
to  reproduce  his  early  years,  and  construct  a  fitting 
child-  and  boyhood  for  him.  We  can  fancy  him  a 
brave,  active,  adventurous  child  and  boy,  eager, 
ready,  studious,  thoughtful,  coming  late  into  the 
already  overpeopled  house,  he  and  his  little  baby 
brother  Edward — little  Ned,  as  he  would  be 
called — taken  in  hands  by  the  elder  sisters,  bloom- 

-f Through  all  his  early  life  in  Northern  Ohio,  and  still  among  the 
members  of  his  family,  the  subject  of  this  memoir  was  known  as  Frank 
Wade,  and  such  he  will  be  here  called,  as  his  younger  brother  was  Ned 
Wade.  "Ben"  and  "Old  Ben"  came  into  use  at  Washington,  and 
though  they  grew  into  use  in  Ohio,  were  always  less  popular.  To  the 
writer,  who  knew  him  intimately  all  his  own  adult  life,  "Ben  Wade" 
was  something  different  and  less  than  "Frank  Wade,"  the  ideal  of  all 
the  younger  men  in  the  wide  reach  of  his  acquaintance. 


B.  F.    WADE,  33 

ing  into  young  women  comeliness,  early  taught  to 
make  his  boy  hands  and  active  feet  useful,  scamp 
ering  among  the  wild  Agawam  hills,  emulous  to 
be  with  and  imitate  the  older  brothers,  to  whom 
James,  who  was  called  Jim,  of  course,  was  an  ideal 
hero.  This  is  not  all  fancy,  for  it  was  in  the  or 
derly  course  of  things  in  a  New  England  family. 
The  father  is  more  phantom-like  to  us.  The 
mother  stands  firmly  or  moves  materially  the  un 
conscious  head  and  centre  of  her  now  completed 
flock,  teaching  each  and  all  the  New  England  Cate 
chism,  the  Shorter  Catechism  of  the  Westminster 
assemblage  of  divines  of  1646,  in  which  the  meta 
physical  achievements  of  the  Calvinistic  theology 
of  that  day  are  reduced  to  dogmatic  forms  and  set 
forth  in  categoric  questions  and  answers,  covering 
the  whole  fruitful  field  of  the  nature  and  essence, 
the  will  and  government  of  God,  the  origin  and 
nature  of  man,  the  advent  of  the  Son,  the  nature 
and  consequence  of  sin,  the  atonement,  and  the 
ultimate  destiny  of  men.  It  was  a  wide  field 
copiously  treated,  and  among  the  first  lessons  sup 
plied  to  the  plastic  childish  mind.  It  was  not  in 
nature  that  Mary  Upham  neglected  to  have  the 
docile  Frank  and  Ned  imbibe  this  rather  dry  and 
innutritious  bread  of  the  life  to  come.  So,  of 
course,  they  committed  to  memory,  possibly,  the 
whole  of  the  great-grandfatherly  'Day  of  Doom'* 
and  were  properly  saturated  with  the  rather  lurid 

*This  was  true  of  Frank.     He  used  occasionally  to  repeat  doleful 
passages  from  it. 


34  B.  F.    WADE. 

religious  atmosphere  of  that  time,  already  begin 
ning  to  break,  fade  and  yield  to  a  purer  air  and  a 
whiter  light.  That  both  took  long,  constant  and 
deep  lessons  of  biblical  reading  we  know,  as  both 
were  remarkably  conversant  with  the  Scriptures, 
especially  the  elder  canon,  which  they  kept  up 
through  life^/The  younger  was  especially  famous 
for  his  many  and  happy  quotations  in  his  speeches 
at  the  bar,  and  on  political  occasions.  No  matter, 
Mary  was  a  tender  mother,  and  reared  her  children 
under  a  full  sense  of  the  awful  responsibility  rest 
ing  upon  her  for  having  brought  into  the  world 
beings  born  to  such  fearful  destinies.  The  boys 
were  docile  ;  they  took  the  prescribed  portion, 
learned  it,  and  escaped  to  the  breezy  hills,  to  the 
trout  streams;  were  permitted  to  go  to  the  river — 
the  little,  shallow,  noisy  Agawam — and  on  some 
distant  and  very  rare  occasions  were  taken  by  Jim 
and  Charley  to  the  river  of  rivers,  the  Connecti 
cut,  a  larger,  longer  river,  in  the  fancy  of  the  New 
England  boy,  than  the  Mississippi  or  even  the 
Jordan,  with  which  he  was  more  familiar. 

We  know  that  the  New  England  Sabbath  was 
more  rigidly  kept  than  was  the  Jewish,  with  fewer 
privileges.  By  theological  mathematics  it  was 
demonstrated  that  it  began  at  sundown  of  Satur 
day  night,  and  ended  with  the  departure  of  sun 
light  of  the  sacred  Sabbath.  The  slavery  of  this 
Puritan  institution  was  something  awful,  and  it 
was  planted  in  patches  in  the  free  Ohio  woods. 
Of  course  the  whole  family  were  confined  a  large 


B.  F.    WADE.  35 

portion  of  the  holy  day  in  the  meeting-house  of 
the  Feeding  Hills  parish,  and  kept  alive  to  the 
long  sermons  that  reached  sixteenthly  and  seven- 
teenthly,  as  well  as  the  interminable  prayers,  f 

The  later  mental  growth  of  New  England,  under 
the  stimulating  and  shattering  effects  of  the  then 
late  war,  was  escaping  the  religious  fetters  as  well, 
and  taking  on  new  forms  of  expression.  In  this 
the  younger  generation  of  Wades  fully  shared; 
and  although  in  his  early  manhood  Edward,  un 
der  the  influence  of  his  affianced,  sharing  more 
fully  the  religious  nature  of  their  mother,  became 
and  remained  a  member  of  her  church,  the  less 
impressible  Frank  lived  and  died  outside  of  re 
ligious  communion  of  all  forms. 

The  daughter  of  one  of  the  best  educated  men 
of  his  time,  Mother  Mary  was  zealous  for  the  men 
tal  culture,  especially,  of  her  boys.  In  the  time 
and  region  where  her  fortune  cast  her,  their  edu 
cation  was  to  be  largely  the  fruit  of  her  work. 
It  is  now  difficult,  even  for  those  whose  memories 
reach  farthest  back,  to  appreciate  the  utter  pov 
erty  of  the  period  of  Frank's  child-  and  boyhood, 
in  the  means  of  education.  Literally,  like  the 
younger  Weller,  it  was  for  him  "a  pursuit  of 
knowledge  under  difficulties."  In  striking  con 
trast  with  the  prodigality  of  our  times  in  news 
papers,  periodicals,  magazines,  books  of  every 

-(•Dr.  Ely,  in  the  South  meeting-house  of  Munson,  east  of  Spring 
field,  consumed  forty  minutes  for  his  main  prayer.  The  writer  fortu 
nately  was  an  infant  when  present,  but  his  inherited  experience  of  these 
seasons  was  vivid. 


36  B.  F.    WADE. 

form  and  variety,  literature  created  for  boys  in  his 
day  had  no  existence.  The  mental  air  was  cold 
and  thin.  Few  had  books,  and  they  were  mainly 
books  of  scholastic  theology,  of  the  quality  of 
4  Edwards  on  the  Will,'  Baxter's  'The  Saints' 
Everlasting  Rest,'  his  notes  of  the  New  Testa 
ment,  for  which  that  upright  Judge  Jeffries  placed 
him  in  the  pillory ;  Watt's  dreary  hymns,  '  Watt's 
on  the  Mind,'  long  a  college  class-book  ;  '  Butler's 
Analogy,'  which  was  also;  'Milton's  Poems,'  re 
garded  as  the  product  of  divine  inspiration  direct ; 
and  Bunyan's  'Pilgrim's  Progress,'  by  the  same 
high  authority.  Other  light  literature  there  was 
none.  Of  educational  books,  first  and  foremost 
was  '  The  New  England  Primer,'  *  containing  the 
Shorter  Catechism  and  abounding  in  couplets  of 
a  moral  and  elevating  character. 

Noah  Webster  had  already  begun  his  reforma 
tory  raids  on  the  common  language.  He  pub 
lished  his*  Grammatical  Institute  of  the  English 
Language  '  a  year  or  two  after  the  marriage  of 
James  and  Mary.  It  consisted  of  three  parts. 
The  first  afterward  became  his  famous  spelling- 
book,  the  second  his  work  on  grammar,  and  the 
third  was  a  widely  used  reading  book — '  The  III 
Part' — with  rules  of  elocution,  which  many  may 
still  remember.  It  may  be  doubted  whether 

*  The  first  prize  ever  competed  for  in  school  by  the  writer  was  a 
'  New  England  Primer  '  in  blue  covers.  He  lost  it  by  missing  a  single 
word  in  a  long  spelling  lesson  to  a  boy  who  missed  every  other  word 
in  it.  That  was  the  last  of  two  long  columns,  and  placed  him  at  the 
head. 


B.  F.    WADE.  37 

Mary,  whose  notions  were  of  Harvard,  would 
favor  the  innovator  of  Yale,  but  undoubtedly  the 
Wade  boys  were  fed  with  this  Websterian  pabu 
lum. 

There  were  '  Dilworth's  Speller,'  'Arithmetic' 
and  'Guide  to  the  English  Language,'  all  in  exist 
ence  since  1761.  There  was  also  Pike's — Nicholas 
Pike's — 'Arithmetic,'  long  the  standard  in  New 
England  schools,  published  at  Newburysport  in 
^88 — a  club  for  stupid  heads,  the  delight  of 
tough,  fibrous  brains.  Lindley  Murray  was  a 
Pennsylvania  lawyer,  merchant  and  author.  His 
grammar,  first  published  in  1795,  soon  became 
and  long  remained  the  standard  in  England  as  well 
as  America.  This  was  followed  in  1799  by  his 
'English  Reader.'  What  elder  or  middle-aged 
man  who  did  not  use  it?  Later  came  the  'Ameri 
can  Preceptor' — a  fresh,  good  book. 

The  method  of  teaching  of  that  time  was  mainly 
to  leave  the  pupil  entirely  to  himself.  The  works 
mentioned  contained  small  or  no  explanation  of 
their  own  rules,  and  few  illustrations.  They  were 
to  be  memorized  and  reveal  themselves  when  they 
would.  Sometimes  a  ray  of  light  was  cast  into 
the  darkened  mind,  and  the  student  was  expected 
to  follow  out  to  the  source  of  light,  a  clue — some 
thing  to  pull  himself  up  by.  The  work  was  his, 
the  gain  all  his.  The  older  edition  of  '  Adams' 
Arithmetic '  a  book  with  large  pages,  had  a  con 
cisely  stated  problem,  one  or  more  on  each  page, 
with  blank  space  on  which  the  solution,  when 


38  B.  F.    WADE, 

reached,  was  to  be  written  by  the  pupil.  A  boy 
carried  a  bit  of  paper  and  a  pen  to  school.  His 
teacher  wrote  an  arithmetical  problem  upon  it — 
"set  him  a  sum"— and  with  or  without  a  word  of 
instruction,  possibly  a  bare  hint  of  what  it  was, 
the  child  was  left  to  wrestle  with  it  as  he  might. 

Teaching  as  an  art,  an  applied  science,  was  un 
known  in  the  common  schools.  The  old  statutes 
of  Massachusetts,  and  the  earlier  of  Ohio,  required 
that  an  apprentice  should  be  sent  to  school  and 
taught  so  much  arithmetic  as  included  the  four 
fundamental  rules,  and  carry  him  to  what  was 
called  "The  rule  of  Three  direct" — simple  pro 
portion. 

One  thing'  was  inevitable  under  this  arid  step 
mother  process.  The  stupid,  dull-minded  boys 
grew  up  dull,  stupid  men,  with  undeveloped  ru 
dimentary  faculties,  and  remained  such  through 
life.  Their  minds  were  the  dark  resting  places  of 
the  old,  once  popular  superstitions  and  beliefs, 
while  the  quick,  strong,  eager,  sinewy  minds  of 
Mary  Upham  Wade's  boys  were  stimulated  and 
strengthened  to  their  very  best.  The  difference 
between  the  naturally  endowed  would  at  once  be 
increased  and  widened,  and  the  better  gifted 
would  become  as  they  were,  an  intellectual  aristoc 
racy.  Nothing  in  our  world  is  so  essentially 
democratic  as  a  real  common  education.  Now 
men  say  there  are  no  really  great  men,  while  the 
fact  is  the  common — the  average — is  so  much  ele 
vated  that  the  difference  is  much  less  between  it 


B.  F.    WADE.  39 

and    the    highest,    so   that    the    great    men    have 
seemed  to  disappear. 

UYom  what  we  know  of  Benjamin  Franklin  and 
Edward  in  their  early  manhood,  whom  we  must 
be  permitted  to  associate,  we  glance  backward  and 
reproduce  Frank  and  Ned,  the  youngest  and  there 
fore  favorite  boys  of  Mary  and  James  Wade,  run 
ning  freely  among  the  Feeding  Hills.  Frank,  the 
older,  more  adventurous,  more  silent ;  Ned,  tender, 
bright,  joyous,  the  more  hopeful,  going  with,  sec 
onding,  standing  by  Frank  in  all  the  wild  adven 
tures  of  their  boy  life — in  their  studies,  Frank  the 
more  enquiring  and  certain,  Ned  the  more  eager 
and  docile,  with  his  black,  silky,  curling,  girl's  hair 
twisting  and  falling  over  his  dark  brow,  with  flash 
ing  black  eyes,  full  of  fun  and  mischief;  while 
Frank's  burned  with  a  steadier  and  more  thought 
ful,  a  mysterious  and  melancholy  light,  as  if  given 
to  see  things  withheld  from  common  men  ;  he  the 
leader  and  mentor  of  the  younger.  J;His  encounter, 
long  tussle  with  and  final  "conquest  of  '  Nicholas 
Pike,'  in  their  growing  years  and  minds,  is  historic. 
Few  young  men  then  or  ever  went  through — clear 
through — '  Pike's  Arithmetic.'  This  he  accom 
plished,  and  conducted  the  younger  and  more 
aspiring  boy  along  the  same  rugged  way.  So  we 
are  told  that  the  elder  had  an  algebra,  that  later 
generalization  of  arithmetic  unknown  to  the 
ancients,  whose  problems  it  solves  with  the  aid  of 
symbols.  We  do  not  know  whose  work  he  had. 
He  was  nearly  of  the  same  age  with  Davies.  It  may 


40  B.  F.    WADE. 

have  been  something  from  Descartes  or  the  older 
mathematicians.  His  was  a  mind  that  would  have 
delighted  in  the  higher  range  of  mathematics.  It 
is  easy  to  suppose  that  in  the  matter  which  came 
to  his  mother  may  have  been  a  copy  of  '  Euclid's 
Elements,'  in  the  old  quarto  form,  with  wide  mar 
gins,  the  word  triangle  always  being  expressed  by 
little  deltas. 

We  know  that  Frank  worked  at  home  on  the 
farm  all  the  years  from  the  time  his  child  hands 
were  useful  till  the  family  removed  to  Ohio,  .going 
to  school  two  or  three  months  each  winter — his 
only  aid  from  educational  institutions.  Self-taught, 
with  his  mother's  and  elder  brother's  aid,  when 
above  the  reach  of  the  New  England  schoolmaster, 
he  worked  on  alone.  The  mental  discipline  of 
this  process  is  very  effective,  the  self-taught  man 
always  running  the  risk  of  being  misled  by  not 
knowing  who  is  the  latest  and  best  authority.  He 
makes  a  book  his  own — blood,  bone,  muscle  and 
sinew. 

James  Wade  was  becoming  aged.  How  many 
great  and  grave  things  occurred  during  the  years  of 
his  sojourn  in  his  native  state  !  Springfield  was 
quite  the  centre  of  the  Shay's  rebellion  of  1785-6; 
a  soldier,  he  must  have  had  some  hand  in  one  side 
of  that.  Then  came  the  long  wrangle  over  the 
growing  troubles  with  the  mother  country,  leading 
to  the  second  long  and  bloody  war,  necessary,  per 
haps,  to  perfect  our  emancipation  from  unconscious 
colonial  vassalage,  and  in  which  we  fought  our  way 


B.   F.    WADE.  41 

to    a    place    of    respectability    among     the    great 
nations  of  modern  times. 

The  Wades  removed  to  Ohio  in  1821.  Of  that 
removal,  as  of  the  general  outlook  of  the  younger 
members  of  the  family,  we  shall  have  something 
to  say  hereafter,  when  we  hope  to  take  up  and 
pursue  the  individual  fortunes  of  Frank  Wade 
more  directly  in  his  maturing  manhood  on  the 
Western  Reserve,  where  the  ground  is  firmer  under 
our  feet,  though  the  incidents  of  his  life  are  still 
scanty  and  elusive. 


CHAPTER  II. 

Planting  Puritans  in  Ohio — South  and  North — Old  Grant  of  Charles 
II. — Connecticut's  Claim — Ashtabula — Andover — Pioneer  Life — The 
Wade  Brothers — Lake  Erie — A  Drover — Frank's  Trip  East — Visits 
his  Eldest  Brother — Works  on  the  Erie  Canal— Seward  Celebrates 
him  in  the  Senate  —  Returns  Home  —  Studies  Law— Law  and 
Lawyers  of  that  Time — James  and  Mary  Pass  Away. 

THE  final  causes  which  shape  the  fortunes  of 
individual  men  and  the  destinies  of  states  are  often 
the  same.  They  are  usually  remote  and  obscure, 
their  influence  wholly  unsuspected  until  declared 
by  results.  When  they  inspire  men  to  the  ex 
ercise  of  courage,  self-denial,  enterprise,  industry, 
and  call  into  play  the  higher  moral  elements,  lead 
men  to  a  risk  of  all  upon  conviction,  faith  ;  such 
causes  lead  to  the  planting  of  great  states, 
great  nations,  great  peoples.  That  nation  is 
greatest  that  produces  the  greatest  and  most 
manly  men,  as  these  must  constitute  the  essen 
tially  greatest  nation.  Such  a  result  may  not 
consciously  be  contemplated  by  the  individuals 
instrumental  in  their  production.  Pursuing  each 
his  personal  good  by  exalted  means,  they  work 
out  this  as  a  logical  conclusion.  They  struggle 
on  the  lines  of  the  largest  good. 


B.  F.   WADE.  43 

Something  has  been  said  of  the  planting  and 
training  of  the  Puritan  element  in  rugged  New 
England.  A  word  must  be  permitted  of  the 
planting  of  a  new  state  west  of  the  Alleghanies, 
between  the  lake  and  river,  and  the  transplanting 
the  modified  Puritan  to  its  stimulating  soil  and 
atmosphere,  for  further  development. 

In  1788  General  Rufus  Putnam  organized  the 
Massachusetts  company,  and  secured  the  grant  of 
a  million  acres  of  land  on  the  Ohio,  including  the 
mouth  of  the  Muskingum,  a  river  flowing  through 
a  most  favored  region.  There  the  company 
planted  ancient  Marietta  and  organized  the  county 
of  Washington. 

About  the  same  time  John  Cleves  Symmes,  a 
distinguished  citizen  of  New  Jersey,  secured  con 
cessions  of  large  tracts  below,  extending  to  the 
Miamis,  valuable  and  rich  lands,  establishing  him 
self  at  North  Bend,  intending  there  to  lay  the 
foundation  of  a  western  metropolis. 

A  little  later  came  men' from  young  Kentucky 
and  secured  the  site  of  Cincinnati,  which,  for  the 
time,  they  called  Losantiville,  though  it  fell  largely 
under  the  dominant  men  of  the  east. 

The  third  Stuart  king  of  England,  in  1662, 
made  a  grant  of  American  lands,  sixty-two  miles 
wide,  extending  from  Narragansett  bay  westward 
to  the  ocean,  which  finally  inured  to  thrifty  Con 
necticut.  Her  title  was  none  of  the  best,  but  she 
so  managed  that  after  her  sister  states  had  relin- 
quinished  their  rival  claims  to  the  infant  republic, 


44  B.  F.   WADE. 

she  was  permitted  to  reserve  from  her  grant  to  the 
United  States,  as  her  property,  this  breadth  of 
territory  extending  west  one  hundred  and  twenty 
miles  from  the  western  line  of  Pennsylvania.  This 
is  the  origin,  territorial  extent  and  geographical 
position  of  the  famous  Connecticut  Western  Re 
serve — New  Connecticut,  as  the  natives  of  that 
state  affectionately  called  it.  The  south  line  of 
the  grant — the  forty-first  degree  north — was  its 
southern  boundary.  Her  northern  was  washed 
by  the  envious  lake,  ever  encroaching  on  the 
domain,  the  southern  trend  of  whose  coast  line, 
running  west,  cut  the  ambitious  little  state  out  of 
quite  half  her  acres.  In  her  sweep  across  northern 
Pennsylvania  she  had  planted,  organized,  and  for 
a  time  governed  her  county  of  Westmoreland, 
whose  representatives  sat  in  her  legislature,  and 
she  had  a  long  and  bloody  feud  with  Pennsyl 
vania,  to  whom  she  was  finally  obliged  later  to 
yield  it.  And  though  she  had  so  much  more  land 
still  west,  she  was  constrained  to  yield  its  sover 
eignty  to  the  United  States,  and  it  became  for 
political  purposes  part  of  the  Northwest  Territory, 
and  so  of  the  state  of  Ohio.  She  soon  sold  the 
soil  to  the  Connecticut  Land  company,  composed 
of  Massachusetts  and  Connecticut  capitalists,  who 
surveyed,  divided  their  acquisition  and  dissolved, 
each  at  once  seeking  purchasers,  which  caused  the 
first  and  greatest  movement  westward  from  New 
England.  All  this,  save  migration,  occurred  in 
the  last  years  of  the  last  century. 


B.  F.    WADE-.  45 

These  wide  acquisitions  on  the  borders  of  the 
state  that  was  to  be,  show  the  appreciative  judg 
ment,  as  well  as  the  enterprise,  of  the  men  of  New 
England,  of  the  importance  of  this  new  and  farther 
west,  a  west  that  was  to  flee  yet  westward  till  the 
Occident  itself  should  vanish.  This  northernmost 
acquisition  was  soon  to  become  the  home  and 
training  ground  of  our  youth  of  the  Feeding  Hills' 
parish,  whose  best  claim  to  notice  is — it  gave  him 
birth  and  early  nurture. 

Loosely  speaking,  the  Reserve  was  distant  six 
hundred  miles,  the  whole  extent  of  westward- 
stretching  New  York  and  farther-extending  Penn 
sylvania,  both  westwardly,  covered  by  an  inter 
minable  forest,  traversed  by  numerous  and  gen 
erally  unbridged  streams,  and  intersected  by  one 
considerable  range  of  mountains  to  be  crossed  or 
gone  around.  At  the  beginning  of  the  century 
the  whole  of  the  new  domain  was  in  the  possession 
of  the  Indians,  though  their  titles  had  been  extin 
guished  by  the  process  of  battle  and  treaty. 

Immigration,  left  wholly  to  individual  enter 
prise,  by  unconscious  selection,  secures  in  the 
main  very  good,  often  the  best  men  for  that 
purpose.  None  but  the  hardy,  resolute  and  en 
terprising  would  undertake  and  endure  the  hazard 
and  hardship.  The  most  of  Ohio  was  thus 
peopled,  not  only  from  New  England,  but  from 
Virginia,  Maryland,  Kentucky  and  Tennessee. 
As  might  have  been  foreseen  from  her  geographi- 


46  B.  F.    WADE. 

cal  position  and  extent,    she  would  rapidly  grow 
to  power  and  importance  in  the  republic. 

The  leaders  of  New  England  and  northeastern 
immigration  to  the  southern  border  were  men  of 
wealth,  high  position  and  wide  influence.  They 
sought  soldiers,  adventurers,  border  men,  hunters, 
men  of  broken  fortunes,  and,  surrounded  as  they 
were  by  emigrants  from  the  border  southern 
states,  the  distinctively  New  England  and  north 
ern  traits  and  characteristics  were  soon  lost ;  and 
while  they  modified  the  manners  and  customs  of 
the  new  communities,  were  in  turn  modified  by 
their  new  associates  and  environs.  Migration  to 
the  Connecticut  lands  was  entirely  spontaneous, 
without  the  aid  of  the  states,  or  of  the  land  com 
pany,  without  the  patronage  of  leaders  or  propri 
etors,  quite  without  individual  concert.  That 
region  bordering  the  lake  was  from  the  first  pre 
ferred,  though  in  the  beginning  not  more  accessi 
ble.  It  may  be  that  the  unapprehended  influence 
of  that  seeming  law  which  requires  the  greater  lines 
of  transit  over  the  western  continent  to  be  along 
the  parallels  of  latitude,  controlled  this  first  con 
siderable  movement  of  the  eastern  people.  How 
ever  that  was,  while  New  England  early  lost  its 
distinctive  influence  in  southern  Ohio,  it  concen 
trated  and  augmented  it  on  the  northern  border, 
which  was  so  much  condensed  Puritan  New  Eng 
land.  It  still  remains  essentially  New  England. 
The  immigrants  thither  were  young,  middle-aged 
husbandmen  and  their  young  wives  and  children, 


B.  F.    WADE.  47 

from  the  centres  of  the  oldest  English  civilization 
on  the  continent,  with  nothing  warlike  but  the 
fading  traditions  of  the  revolution  and  older  Indian 
wars,  nor  hunters,  knowing  nothing  of  woodcraft, 
or  pioneer  makeshifts.  Peace-loving,  law-abiding, 
from  instinct  and  habit — frugal,  long-headed,  in 
tellectual,  hard  workers,  inventive,  strongly  im 
bued  with  the  religion  of  their  ancestors,  intensely 
Protestant,  believing  in  the  God  of  the  Bible,  the 
saving  efficacy  of  common  schools  in  this  life,  and 
bent  on  bettering  their  earthly  condition  by  slow, 
hard  work.  Beyond  that,  never  thinking  of  any 
part  they  were  to  play  in  forming  a  new  great 
state.  Purely  democratic  in  life  and  habit  of 
thought,  their  organized  townships  would  be  little 
democracies.  Of  one  of  these  the  young  Wades 
are  to  become  citizens,  help  form  and  be  formed 
by  it,  in  the  larger  freedom  of  the  thinly  settled 
woods,  most  favorable  to  the  development  of  in 
dividual  traits  and  tendencies,  growing  as  the 
trees  grow,  and,  like  them,  largely  under  the 
limits  of  natural  law  alone. 

fTThe  county  of  Ashtabula  (Indian  name  of  a 
creek)  is  the  northeastern  county  of  Ohio,  border 
ing  Lake  Erie  and  bounded  east  by  Pennsylvania. 
It  was  organized  in  1811,  containing  twenty-eight 
townships,  of  the  five-mile  square  pattern  of  the 
Reserve,  to  which  the  exceptions,  save  those 
caused  by  the  lake  coast-line,  are  few.  j 

f~The  township  of  Andover  is  one  of  the  eastern 
range,  lying  along  the  Pennsylvania  line,  and  the 


48  B.  F,   WADE. 

fifth  going  south  from  the  lake,  from  which  it  is 
something  over  twenty  miles  distant.  Its  settle 
ment  began  in  1805  or  1806.  It  was  organized  as 
a  body  politic  in  1819.  This  implied  at  le'ast  ten 
resident  voters  in  its  territory.  The  organization 
was  after  the  Massachusetts  pattern,  with  three 
trustees — the  government  proper,  one  or  more 
justices  of  the  peace  and  constables — old  English; 
supervisors  of  highways,  overseers  of  the  poor, 
viewers  of  fences,  the  erection  of  common  school 
districts  by  metes  and  bounds,  of  which  the 
residents  were  quasi  corporators.  All  native  or 
naturalized  citizens,  with  the  qualification  of  resi 
dence,  were  freemen,  and  settled  their  township 
affairs  at  an  annual  meeting  of  all  the  voters,  held 
then,  and  now,  on  the  first  Monday  of  April. 

In  the  history  of  Andover*  I  find  it  recorded  : 
"  In  1820  the  three  brothers  Wade— Samuel  Sid 
ney,  Theodore  Leonard,  and  Charles  H. — came 
into  the  township.  The)'  were  unmarried."  ,.The 
record  says  further  of  these  young  Wades,  that  in 
1821  "Theodore  taught  a  three  months'  school 
in  Madison  (then  in  Geauga  county,  some  dis 
tance  west)  and  received  therefor  six  barrels  of 
whiskey;"  and  that  "Charles  taught  the  same 
winter  in  Monroe  (down  toward  the  lake)  and 
received  five  barrels."  It  maybe  stated  that  at 
that  day  the  only  disposition  to  be  made  of  the 
surplus  wheat  and  corn  was  to  turn  it  into  whiskey. 
Its  capacity  of  being  turned  elsewhere  rendered  it 

*  Williams'  '  History  of  Ashtabula  County,'  p.  216. 


' 


B.  F.    WADE.  49 

one  of  the  few  merchantable  products  of  that 
remote  region,  which  then  had  no  outlet,  except 
across  the  woods  southeastwardly  to  remote  Pitts 
burgh  and  the  headwaters  of  the  Ohio  river.  The 

D 

history  also  says  that  the  new  Wade  homestead 
was  established  on  lots  38  and  48.  What  were 
distinguished  as  lots  were  quarter  sections,  a  half 
mile  square,  containing  one  hundred  and  sixty 
acres  of  land  each.  This  may  answer  for  the 
beginning  of  current  history  as  usually  written. 
It  will  be  remembered  that  James  Wade,  Jr.,  the 
eldest  of  the  sons,  early  pushed  off  to  the  neigh 
borhood  of  Albany,  west  of  Springfield  and  not 
very  remote,  where  he  taught  school,  studied 
medicine,  married,  and  came  finally  to  be  a  phy 
sician  and  surgeon  of  much  local  celebrity. 

It  is  quite  certain  that  the  first  to  reach  Ohio 
were  Charles  H.,  his  sister,  Nancy  Picket,  and  her 
husband,  John.  They  left  Springfield  late  in 
1819,  and  there  is  a  legend  that  they  walked  much 
of  the  way,  lingered  in  Pennsylvania  and  reached 
Andover  in  1820,  where  they  settled.  The  next 
was  Samuel  Sidney.  Samuel  Sidney  Wade,  second 
son,  left  Feeding  Hills  and  made  his  way  to  his 
brothers,  in  eastern  New  York,  where  he  remained 
for  a  time  teaching  school.  He  reached  Andover 
about  the  time  or  a  little  later  than  did  his  brother 
and  sister.  He  was  accompanied  by  Theodore  L. 
They  joined  the  others.  The  exact  date,  whether 
in  1819  or  1820,  of  this  reunion  is  of  little  conse 
quence  to  us.  The  three  young  men,  brothers, 


50  B.  F.    WADE. 

these  young  and  vigorous  Wades,  fell  to  the  first 
and  only  work  of  pioneers  —  axmen  —  chopping 
down  trees,  building  log  cabins,  tracing  out  trails 
and  lines,  and  "  blazing  trees"  (hewing  off  the 
bark)  to  mark  the  way,  and  picking  up  the  rudi 
ments  of  woodcraft,  this  and  school-teaching  in 
the  winter.  Here  in  the  woods,  Samuel  Sidney. 
the  wit  of  the  family  —  who  ranked  high  for  shrewd 
and  pithy  sayings,  esteemed  quite  the  best  con 
versationalist  —  found  sweet  Emily  Cadwell,  then 
two  years  with  her  father's  family,  Roger  Cadwell, 
from  Farmington,  Connecticut,  and  wooed  her  in 
such  fashion  that  they  were  married  in  September, 
1821.*  He  it  was  who  "took  up"  the  land  in 
the  east  part  of  this  Andover  of  the  west,  «nd 
built  there  a  new  homestead,  of  which  the  young 
bride  became  the  mistress. 

Qt  must  have  been  in  the  fall  of  1821  that  the 
Wade  brothers  fitted  out  a  team  and  sent  John 
Picket  to  Massachusetts  for  the  residue  of  the 
family  —  James  and  Mary  Upham,  Frank  and 
Ned,  who  reached  the  cabin  in  the  woods  at  the 
near  approach  of  winter,  now  sixty-five  years 


rudimentary  everything  was  —  a  little 
framed  school  house  at  the  centre,  built  the  year 
before  ;  an  old-fashioned,  small-stoned  grist-mill, 
picked  from  native  boulders  ;  a  little,  new,  slow- 

*  They  became  the  parents  of  Judge  E.  C.  Wade  of  Jefferson,  Ohio, 
and  she  was  a  sister  of  the  later  born  Hon.  Darius  Cadwell  of  Cleve 
land. 


B.  F.   WADE.  51 

going  saw-mill,  on  a  forest  stream  that  dried  up 
when  the  woods  were  cut  away  ;  trails  and  wind 
ing,  scarcely  trodden  roads  and  forest  paths, 
through  the  endless  woods,  with  here  and  there  a 
small  opening,  a  rude  log  cabin,  a  little,  stumpy, 
blackened  clearing,  and  for  the  rest,  woods — trees 
and  woods.  There  was  a  court  house  and  a  hamlet 
at  Jefferson,  a  larger  village  near  the  mouth  of  the 
Ashtabula  creek.  1  Buffalo  still  showed  signs  of  the 
late  war,. and  trien  the  solitary  shore  of  the  lonely 
lake,  a  waste  of  desert  water.  There  was  a  little 
village  on  the  Grande  river  west,  and  a  rude,  strag 
gling  town  of  six  hundred  inhabitants  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Cuyahoga.  The  lake  had  a  single 
steamer  launched  that  season,  called  Walk-in-the- 
Water,  after  the  old  Wyandot  chief,  who  deserted 
Proctor  the  day  before  the  battle  of  the  Thames  ; 
that  and  four  or  five  small  craft,  without  a  harbor 
or  barely  an  accessible  creek,  on  the  whole  south 
ern  lake  coast.  The  great  state  of  the  near  future 
was  a  wide,  dim  outline,  hiding  in  the  shadows  of 
its  scarcely  broken  forests,  still  echoing  with  the 
cries  and  din  of  savage  warfare — its  half  million  of 
pioneers.  Columbus,  a  straggling,  muddy  village 
on  the  Scioto,  had  been  but  five  years  the  capital 
when  Frank  Wade,  this  lithe  young  descendant  of 
the  Puritans,  strode  into  the  woods  of  her  north 
eastern  border,  as  unconscious  of  what  this  coming 
portended  to  him  as  of  the  future  greatness  of  the 
infant  state  three  years  his  junior.  He  was  then 
twenty-one  years  of  age,  full  American  height, 


52  B.  F.   WADE. 

broad,  heavy  shouldered,  slender  in  the  loin,  well 
limbed,  straight  and  supple,  manly  featured,  to 
whom  Jupiter  had  already  sent  a  beard ;  dark 
eyed,  and  bearing  his  head  well  up  with  uncon 
scious  dignity,  wholly  unassuming,  frank,  courage 
ous,  virile  manliness  early  characterized  his  bear 
ing,  with  a  mind  well  developed,  quick,  observing, 
alive  to  all  that  was  about  him,  he  came,  as  did 
the  other  youths  of  the  East,  to  war  with  the  for 
ests,  reduce  the  earth  to  the  purposes  of  the 
husbandman  and  become  a  tiller  of  its  fresh,  vigor 
ous  soil  ;  less  aspiring  than  his  younger  brother, 
this  was  known  to  be  his  purpose.  His  first  study 
was  the  wonderful  forest,  not  the  lush  gigantic 
tangled  growth  of  the  sub-tropical,  humid  regions 
of  the  south,  but  the  open,  clean,  tall,  large,  splen 
did  product  of  the  strong  soils  in  that  northern 
temperate  belt,  stretching  from  the  Hudson  west 
ward  to  the  treeless  plains,  composed  of  nearly 
every  variety  of  deciduous  trees,  with  but  a  slight 
sprinkle  here  and  there  of  conifers.  This  was 
particularly  the  character  of  the  forest  lying  along 
the  southern  border  of  the  lake,  extending  indefi 
nitely  southward  and  westwaroTj 

The  younger  Wades  had  already  become  accus 
tomed  to  the  woods.  They,  nor  no  men,  had  ever 
seen  a  finer  growth  of  splendid  forest  than  shaded 
the  wide  sloping  plains  and  hillsides  of  the  Western 
Reserve. 

It  is  curious,  the  effect  of  a  sojourn  in  the 
forest  upon  civilized  men.  All  revert  more  or 


B.  F.   WADE.  53 

less  toward  primitive  conditions — toward  sav 
agery.  It  is  essential  to  existence  there,  where 
everything  is  taken  first  hand  from  the  woods,  the 
waters  and  the  soil  itself.  Some  became  hunters 
in  a  day,  some  instinctively  grasp  the  lore  of  wood 
craft,  while  the  majority  remain  obstinate  citizens, 
to  whom  the  forest  is  a  prison  whose  walls  they 
flee  or  labor  to  destroy. 

r"Frank  early  became,  and  always  remained,  an 
expert  rifle  shot.  I  never  heard  that  he  was  a 
hunter  or  greatly  a  woodsman  ;  he  was  an  observer, 
a  student,  and  alive  to  impressions.  From  won 
dering  at  the  individual  trees,  wondering  at  the 
trees  in  grand  masses,  he  passed  to  studying  their 
peculiarities  and  economic  values.  He  came  to 
know  something  of  the  forest,  the  woods  as  a  whole; 
came  to  appreciate  it  as  the  realm,  the  world  of 
nature,  who  wrote  a  common  character  upon  all 
her  children  that  found  standing  room  and  homes 
in  its  thickets  and  glades.  Wild,  men  call  it, 
from  insect  and  bird  to  the  elk' and  Indian.  Wild, 
gamey,  the  hunters  and  pioneers  said  of  the  flavor 
of  its  meats  and  fruits.  Men  living  long  in  it 
themselves  become  more  or  less  possessed  of  its 
subtle,  elusive,  yet  pervasive  spirit. 

The  latest  arrived  took  up  their  abode  with  the 
newly  married  Samuel  and  Emily,  and  so  the 
family  were  reunited.  The  Pickets  were  near,  the 
Brigdens  and  Bettises  soon  came,  and  save  the 
long  absent  James,  jr.,  the  Wades  were  all  to 
gether  again.  Three  of  the  five  young  men  taught 


54  B.  F.    WADE. 

school  that  winter.  Those  at  home  kept  the  fire 
agoing,  "chopped  down  browse  "maple,  elm, 
beech  and  basswood  for  the  cow  and  oxen.  As 
the  spring  approached  five  axes  were  helved  and 
ground,  and  five  stalwart  young  choppers  assailed 
the  forest.  A  cornfield  must  be  planted  in  May. 
From  eight  to  ten  days  a  single  fairly  good  axman 
required  to  fell  and  cut  into  proper  lengths  the 
standing  trees  of  an  acre  of  land  and  pile  up  the 
small  limbs  and  brush  for  the  first  burning. 
What  a  falling  of  trees  and  resounding  of  axes 
as  these  five  youths  Waded  into  the  woods.  Then 
came  sugar  making,  and  the  pigeons,  the  suckers 
and  mullet,  the  pike  and  other  lake  fish  up  the 
undammed  creeks.  In  mid  April  the  newly  cut 
and  piled  brush  in  the  chopping,  under  the  sun, 
winds  and  rains,  would  burn,  and  the  "  fallow" — the 
chopping — was  fired.  The  winds  arose,  and  there 
was  a  great  conflagration — which  darkened  the  sky 
— and  the  fragrance  of  burning  leaves  was  on  the 
air.  Then,  with  a  specially  trained  yoke  of  oxen — 
Bright  and  Brown,  the  same  with  shoes  and  work 
ing  in  breeching,  which  drew  the  wagon  from  the 
Feeding  Hills  the  autumn  before  ;  the  young  men, 
armed  with  "  iromvood  "  handspikes,  strong, 
hardy  and  lithe,  piled  up  and  burnt  the  already 
blackened  tree  trunks,  and  the  denuded, 
smirched,  virgin  earth  was  given  to  her  husband 
man.  The  vigor  of  her  response  to  the  young 
New  Englanders,  was  a  wonder  to  them.  What 
ever  they  entrusted  to  her  she  returned  an  hundred 


B.  F.    WADE.  55 

fold,  their  plantings  of  one  day  putting  forth  their 
blades  almost  on  the  next.  What  lush  growths 
of  rank  and  fragrant  herbage  on  the  wide  slopes  of 
the  woods  and  along  the  pleasant  watercourses, 
the  early  season  brought  ;  even  the  uplands  were 
clothed  in  deep  verdure  as  a  savanna.  What 
myriads  of  new  and  strange  flowers,  what  a  world 
of  song  birds,  and  then  the  wild  small  fruits  as  the 
summer  deepened.  There  were  the  plum  bottoms, 
raspberries,  crabapples,  in  endless  profusion,  and 
the  fragrance  of  wild  thyme  and  oxbalm.  Through 
the  summer,  there  was  more  chopping  and  clearing 
for  wheat.  Then  the  rich,  ripe  autumn  and  the 
splendor  of  the  gorgeous  forest,  with  the  profusion 
of  nuts.  Winter  came  with  more  school  teaching, 
and  so  as  the  seasons  came  and  went.  They  were 
much  alike.  The  fields  grew,  the  woods  receded  ; 
rich  grasses  clothed  the  earth,  fruit  trees  and 
shrubs  took  the  places  of  the  wilder  plantings  of 
nature,  which  she  in  turn  fostered  with  the  same 
care. 

What  a  household  was  that — these  five  young 
Wades — the  eldest  with  his  bride-wife;  James  al 
ready  venerable,  telling  his  stories  of  the  old  war, 
his  memory  failing;  Mary,  grown  a  little  stout, 
with  her  square,  intellectual  brow,  bright  eyes, 
white  hair,  her  softened,  sweet  face  and  winnowed 
wisdom,  still  the  head  and  centre;  the  young  wife 
ruling  by  the  divine  right  of  blessed  womanhood, 
surrounded  by  these  youths  taught  by  Mother 
Mary  to  reverence  and  cherish  womanhood.  Some- 


56  B.  F.    WADE. 

thing  of  this  old-time,  rare  circle  has  been  told 
me. 

These  five  vigorous,  healthy,  intellectual,  witty 
and  fairly  cultivated  young  men,  emulous,  hungry 
for  mental  food,  eager,  searching  for  everything 
within  reach,  reading  every  book  that  any  of  their 
ten  hands  could  be  laid  upon,  and  discussing  it  as 
they  read,  and  so  of  everything.  The  Cleveland 
Herald  was  established  in  1819,  the  Painesville  Tel 
egraph  in  1821.  One  or  both  of  these  they  secured 
with  something  from  the  east.  A  joyous,  gay-tem 
pered,  light-hearted,  laughing,  joking,  rollicking 
band  of  brothers  as  ever  migrated  into  the  western 
woods;  kindly  doing  everything  that  came  to  their 
hands ;  helping  and  being  helped,  as  was  the  then 
golden  rule  of  the  pioneers  ;  widely  known,  widely 
respected  and  loved.  What  a  power  such  a  band 
is  ;  how  helpful  to  each  other. 

Two  years — two  cherished  years  of  this  life,  hard, 
and  in  many  ways  stinted,  in  a  cold,  thin  atmos 
phere  of  toil  and  self-denial,  yet  robust,  sinewy; 
free,  pure,  active,  unselfish,  healthful,  Frank 
Wade's  first  of  pupilage  and  acclimation  in  the  life 
and  fitting  for  his  future  duties — two  years,  and  he 
turned  from  that  book  of  the  lessons,  a  little  with 
the  uncertainty  of  one  who  has  not  yet  seen  his 
way  to  the  thing  he  wants,  or  is  in  doubt  as  to  the 
thing  itself.  He  would  not  be  an  Ohio  farmer. 
For  many,  many  waiting  years  the  young  com 
munities  were  without  markets  or  outlets.  The 
lake  was  useless.  The  Erie  canal  was  yet  incom- 


B.  F.    WADE.  57 

plete,  and  notwithstanding  the  thrift  and  enterprise 
of  the  people,  the  settlements  languished,  stood 
still,  the  years  were  moveless ;  values  of  all  pro 
ducts  disappeared;*  money  was  not;  the  silver 
coins  were  cut  to  fractions,  and  the  utmost  econ 
omy  was  necessary  to  secure  enough  to  pay  the 
moderate  yearly  taxes  and  buy  salt  and  leather. 
Black  salts  commanded  cash  at  Pittsburgh.  Whis 
key  has  been  mentioned.  The  wide  and  rich 
forest  pasturage  made  the  raising  of  cattle  easy. 
These  could  be  driven  eastward  to  a  market.  Early 
this  was  an  extensive  business  on  the  Reserve. 
Enterprising  men  made  it  a  calling.  It  was  full 
of  risk,  laborious,  required  skill  and  enterprise. 
The  larger  merchant  made  it  a  means  of  purchase 
and  sale.  He  supplied  his  customers  on  long  cred 
its  and  received  cattle  in  payment,  sometimes 
paying  a  small  part  in  cash.  Philadelphia  was  the 
great  eastern  market  where  the  droves  were  sold 
and  the  proceeds  invested  in  goods.  New  York 
was  no  market.  Boston  was  oftener  resorted  to 
for  commercial  purposes.  The  purchases  were 
herded  and  driven  "over  the  mountains"  through 
Pennsylvania,  taking  five  or  six  weeks  to  make  the 
transit.  Later,  sheep  and  swine  were  in  like 
manner  disposed  of. 
/rTn  the  autumn  of  1823,  Frank  Wade  hired  him- 

*My  father's  noble  pair  of  oxen  were  sold  for  forty  dollars,  part  cash 
A  fine  mare  for  thirty  dollars.     He  sold  wheat  for  thirty-five  and  forty 
cents  per  bushel,  receiving  "store  pay.  "     He  paid  ten  dollars   for  a 
barrel  of  salt  and  thirty-five  cents  a  yard  for  poor  domestic  cotton.     A 
man  often  worked  a  day  for  a  yard  of  cotton  cloth. 


58  B.  F.   WADE. 

self  to  a  drover,  and  aided  him  in  driving  a  herd 
"over  the  mountains"  to  Philadelphia.  He 
probably  walked  a  large  part  of  the  distance, 
and  received  eight,  ten  or  twelve  dollars — his 
personal  expenses  paid.  The  name  of  his  em 
ployer  is  lost,  and  so  escaped  the  one  chance  of 
immortality.  ^/From  Philadelphia  he  made  his  way 
to  Albany  and  joined  his  brother,  Doctor  James. 
He  spent  two  years  in  the  neighborhood — two 
years  teaching  school,  and  as  is  said,  he  also  under 
took  the  study  of  medicine  under  his  brother's  tu 
ition.  He  could  never  have  more  than  toyed  with 
the  text-books,  his  reading  making  no  show  in  his 
after  mental  equipment,  as  it  would  had  he  ever 
seriously  undertaken  it.  It  is  certain  that  during 
this  time  he  resorted  to  the  line  of  the  great  canal 
in  the  course  of  construction,  and  worked  for  a 
time  with  pick  and  shovel  and  barrow  with  the 
common  laborers,  for  means  to  carry  himself  for 
ward,  receiving,  probably,  not  exceeding  forty-five 
or  fifty  cents  per  day.  Had  any  one  then  told  the 
brave,  independent  youth  that  he  was  destined  to 
hear  this  incident  of  his  life  related  in  the  senate 
of  the  United  States,  and  himself  spoken  of  as  one 
of  the  most  talented  members  of  that  body,  by  the 
foremost  statesman  of  his  time,  he  would  have  re 
garded  it  as  a  prophecy  too  silly  for  even  derision.* 

*Speaking  of  the  great  work  and  of  the  foreigners  who  performed  it, 
William  H.  Seward  said  in  the  senate  :  ' '  Whence  came  the  labor  that 
performed  that  work?  I  know  but  one  American  citizen  who  worked 
with  spade  and  wheelbarrow  upon  there  works.  Doubtless  there  are 


B.  F.    WADE.  59 

Little  as  we  know  of  these  two  years,  we  know 
they  were  not  lost.  Nothing  ever  is  in  the  lives 
of  such  men.  They  may  not  have  been  the  most 
helpful — they  were  not  without  their  use.  He 
may  have  been  slow  in  growth  and  development ; 
I  am  inclined  to  think  he  was,  and  his  mind  got 
the  utmost  help  from  all  discipline.^ 

The  great  waterway  was  commenced  in  1817, 
was  completed  in  the  autumn  of  1825,  and  the  re 
gal  Clinton  made  his  progress  in  a  famous  barge 
from  Buffalo  to  tide  water,  through  it,  at  the  close 
of  that  season.  Unquestionably  young  Wade  re 
turned  home  upon  it  by  way  of  the  lake.  Of  all 
the  west  the  Reserve  was  the  first  to  be  vivified 
by  the  new  life  it  slowly  kindled  in  all  the  north. 

Frank  returned  to  find  his  youngest  brother, 
Edward — the  most  aspiring  of  all  the  brothers,  a 
law  student  in  the  office  of  Messrs.  Whittlesey  & 
Newton,  at  Canfield,  now  Mahoning  county,  toward 
the  south  line  of  the  Reserve,  then  the  great  private 
law  school  of  northern  Ohio.  This  ingenious  youth, 
though  full  of  fun  and  fancies,  nevertheless  had  a 
turn  for  mathematics,  and  had  composed  and  writ 
ten  a  new  arithmetic,  which  occupied  his  thought 
and  spare  time  for  a  year  or  two.  When  com 
pleted,  and  he  was  studying  the  means  of  publica 
tion,  a  brother-in-law's  house,  where  it  was  depos 
ited,  was  burnt,  and  it  was  consumed.  It  was  said 

many  others,  but  I  know  but  one,  and  he,  I  am  glad  to  say,  is  a  mem 
ber  on  this  floor — Mr.  Wade  of  Ohio — and  one  of  the  most  talented 
senators. 


60  B.  F.    WADE. 

he  went  about  dejectedly  for  a  day  or  two,  and  then 
announced  his  determination  to  become  a  lawyer, 
and  that  soon  after,  with  his  scant  wardrobe  and 
six  dollars  in  his  pocket,  he  made  his  way  to  Can- 
field,  was  received,  and  at  once  entered  upon  his 
novitiate  to  the  law.  This  must  have  been  in  1824 
— year  memorable  in  American  annals  for  the  first 
great  contest  between  the  second  Adams  and  Gen 
eral  Jackson  for  the  Presidency,  in  which  were 
sown  the  seeds  of  mischiefs  innumerable. 

In  that  day  the  profession  of  the  law  was,  if  any 
thing,  more  exclusive  and  exalted  than  any  other 
calling  in  America.  Its  members  were  limited, 
and  they  jealously  guarded  all  the  avenues  of  en 
trance  to  its  ranks  and  priveleges,  then  wholly 
committed  to  their  keeping.  They  received  as 
students  and  educated  the  carefully  selected  few, 
whom  they  finally  admitted  to  this  favored  circle. 
Always  dressed  with  care,  dignified  and  distant  in 
manners,  associating  socially  with  none  but  the 
conceded  select,  when  lines  and  classes  were  still 
well  marked,  as  a  body,  a  profession,  the  members 
always  remembered  and  exacted  their  collective 
and  inividual  dues.  It  was  long  regarded  as  arro 
gant  in  the  average  young  man  to  aspire  to  the 
honors  of  the  bar.  Wealth  and  education  could 
not  always  find  the  way  to  it.  The  ministry  and 
medicine  were  comparatively  free.  To  be  received 
into  a  law  office  as  a  full  student,  at  once  marked 
a  young  man  and  set  him  apart.  It  required 
courage  and  enterprise  on  his  part  to  face  this 


B.  F.    WADE.  6 1 

aristocratic  set,  meet  their  exactions  and  steadily 
contemplate  the  awful  presence  of  the  court  itself. 
The  idea  of  assaulting  and  winning  his  way  into 
this  favored  profession  was  Ned  Wade's  own. 
Who  vouched  for  him,  if  voucher  he  had,  is  now 
unknown.  He  was  aspiring,  had  faith  and  capacity 
for  work,  and  when  Frank  returned  from  Albany 
he  was  a  well  established  and  favorite  student. 

Elisha  Whittlesey  was  then  fairly  among  the 
three  or  four  great  lawyers  in  his  section  of  the 
state,  and  had  just  entered  upon  his  long,  distin 
guished  and  very  valuable  career  in  the  national 
house  of  representatives.  Eben  Newton,  younger, 
was  in  the  opening  of  a  long  and  exceptionally 
brilliant  course  at  the  bar,  in  the  Ohio  senate  and 
congress.  The  firm  ranked  with  the  best  in  the 
west,  and  educated  as  many  able  lawyers  as  ever 
graduated  from  any  law  office  in  Ohio.  The 
senior  was  a  gentleman  of  the  old  school,  had 
served  with  distinction  in  the  late  war,  was  the 
centre  of  an  exceptionally  exclusive  circle,  the 
olden  Canfield,  where  was  much  of  wealth  and 
pretension.  There  resided  the  Whittleseys,  Wads- 
worths,  Churches,  the  Canfields  and  others.  Ned 
had  a  modest  youth's  confidence  in  himself,  had 
boundless  faith  in  his  brother  Frank.  He  quite 
appreciated  his  strong,  sinewy  mind,  his  capacity 
and  will  for  work.  Just  what  line  of  argument 
he  pursued  we  know  not.  Upon  his  return  he 
besought  him  so  earnestly  to  enter  upon  the  study 
of  the  law,  that  through  his  efforts  Frank,  ere 


62  B.  F.    WADE. 

winter,  was  an  accepted  student  in  the  office  of 
Whittlesey  &  Newton.* ..}  He  was  then  twenty-five 
years  old,  with  a  mind  fairly  unfolded,  a  good  age 
to  enter  upon  the  acquirement  of  the  rudiments 
of  the  law,  by  no  means  an  exact  science,  and  even 
at  this  day  of  inquiry  and  criticism,  little  of  its 
philosophy  has  been  written.  While  it  demands 
long  and  arduous  mental  labor  to  master  its  nu 
merous  and  often  artificial  rules,  and  the  grounds 
and  reasons  upon  which  they  depended,  it  still 
has  a  considerable  element  of  apprenticeship, 
which  those  who  undertake  the  law,  toward  even 
early  middle  life,  rarely  acquire  and  become  adepts 
in.  Though  slenderly  equipped  by  scholarship, 
Mr.  Wade  in  many  respects  was  admirably  fitted, 
not  only  to  acquire,  master,  the  theories  of  Eng 
lish  common  law,  but  he  had  the  courage,  will 
power,  the  capacity  for  long,  continuous,  persist 
ent  work,  mental  and  physical,  without  which  the 
higher  positions  of  the  profession  never  were  at 
tained,  and  with  which  no  man  ever  yet  failed  at 
the  bar/3  The  curious  layman  who  glances  around 
the  book  crusted  walls  of  a  good  working-  law 
library,  wonders  if  a  man  must  know  all  they  con 
tain.  Not  at  all.  He  is  a  good  lawyer  who  knows 
where  to  find  what  law  he  wants  at  a  given  time. 
The  student  is  not  asked  to  master  more  than  ten 
or  twelve  volumes,  purely  elementary,  the  ac 
cepted  formulas  of  the  law,  arranged  under  heads, 
as  expounded  and  enforced  by  the  courts  at  West- 

*Edward  Wade  was  my  authority  for  this  statement. 


B.  F.   WADE.  63 

minster,  Washington,  New  York,  Boston,  Balti 
more — the  courts  of  the  last  resort,  among  the 
various  English  speaking  nations  and  states. 

The  well  selected  library  of  that  time  would 
seem  meager  and  poor  to  the  richer  surrounded 
lawyer  of  our  day.  Blackstone's  still  incompar 
able  work,  first  given  to  the  public  in  1765,  of 
course  these  leading  lawyers  had  ;  and  the  first  of 
Joseph  Chettys,  which  still  maintain  their  place. 
Chancellor  Kent's  first  volume  was  not  published 
till  1826,  nor  was  there  any  important  American 
work.  For  the  rest,  there  were  Coke  and  Fearne 
and  Fonblanque,  Flowden  and  Powel ;  Bacon— 
not  him  of  St.  Albans  and  Verulam  ;  Bacon's 
abridgement,  in  ten  huge,  dull  volumes  ;  Comyn's 
digest ;  a  stately  row  of  Hargrave's  state  trials, 
old  folios,  and  Espinasse,  and  hardest  of  books  of 
legal  problems  ;  Buller's  nisi prius,  where  complex 
cases  wrere  condensed  into  five  lines,  and  a  half 
score  to  the  page.  For  the  law  of  crimes  there 
were  Hale  and  East  and  Hawkins.  Above  all 
and  over  all,  and  "  blessed  forever,"  there  stood  a 
huge  folio — '  Jacob's  Law  Dictionary' — good  old 
Father  Jacob,  who  required  a  good  deal  of  recon 
dite  learning  to  consult  and  understand,  but  who, 
in  a  last  push,  in  that  strange  old  land  of  mediae 
val  scholasticism  and  hidden  meanings,  of  bad 
law  Latin  and  worse  law  French,  where  solid 
black  letter  cast  a  mystic  gloom  over  the  page, 
never  did  fail  the  bewildered,  wearied  student. 

It  would  be  interesting  to  note   the  early  steps 


64  B.  F.   WADE. 

of  the  plucky,  sinewy  mind  of  Frank,  with  its 
inherited  tendencies,  in  this  new  field.  How  he 
scoffed  and  fought  everything  !  What  battles 
royal  he  had  with  the  already  indoctrinated 
Edward,  till  by  degrees  the  spirit  and  life,  the 
reason  and  light — the  last  sometimes  a  little 
lurid  and  sometimes  a  little  ghostly,  yet  always 
steady — came  to  be  apprehended  and  appre 
ciated  as  the  weird,  quaint  spirit  of  the  realm 
came  to  possess  him.  Its  sturdy  efforts  to 
reach  a  practical  right,  sometimes  failing  through 
its  own  subtleties,  sometimes  losing  its  true 
spirit  in  its  own  dead  and  empty  names,  yet 
always  reviving-  and  coming  forth  strong  and  vig 
orous  for  the  rights  of  the  individual  man,  and 
effectively  interposing  to  shield  and  protect  him 
from  the  oppression  of  the  crown,  which,  while 
the  law  presumed  it  could  do  no  wrong,  betrayed  a 
vicious  tendency  to  do  no  right.  No  vigorous, 
ingenuous  mind  can  explore  the  law  and  appre 
hend  the  historic  significance  of  its  English  career, 
without  cherishing  a  profound  veneration  for  habeas 
corpus  and  trial  by  jury.  Rapidly  the  strong,  primi 
tive  mind  of  the  young  man — a  mind  that  boldly 
questioned  all  things,  which  took  nothing  second 
hand,  which,  when  deepest  imbued  with  the  color 
of  the  law,  still  retained  its  native  apprehension 
of  the  white  light,  in  which  a  healthful  intellect 
sees  all  things — became  truly  studious  of  the  com 
mon  law — that  distilled  product  of  so  many  gener 
ations  of  the  strongest  and  most  practical  of  the 


B.  F.   WADE.  65 

minds  of  men,  compelled  to  deal  with,  adjust  and 
settle  the  innumerable  differences  of  men,  arising 
in  their  endless  commerce  with  human  property, 
its  acquisition,  transference  and  transmission,  each 
generation  accepting  the  results  of  its  predeces 
sors,  working  them  over,  broadening,  deepening, 
correcting,  limiting,  modifying  and  improving  the 
whole,  as  new  and  better  lights  arose,  new  wants 
arose,  and  farther  general  human  progress  at 
tained — that  infinitely  greater  mass  of  law,  not 
originating  in  acts  of  parliament,  of  congress  and 
state  legislatures  ;  older  and  wiser,  the  atmosphere 
in  which  they  are  created,  underlying,  overarching, 
surrounding  all  statutes,  the  background  against 
which  they  are  drawn,  by  the  rules  of  which  the 
meaning  of  all  enacted  law  is  ascertained,  adjudged 
and  enforced.  An  admirable  mental  training  say 
the  doubting,  jealous  laymen,  for  a  lawyer,  but  its 
tendency  is  to  narrow  the  intellect  and  render  it 
less  competent  to  deal  with  broad  subjects  and 
large  interests.  Let  these  remember  that  the 
broadest  minded  statesmen  of  America,  from 
Hamilton  to  Webster  and  Clay,  from  these  to 
Lincoln,  Seward  and  Garfield,  were  all  thoroughly 
learned  and  trained  common  lawyers. 

The  statutes  of  Ohio  required  two  years  of  dili 
gent,  preparatory  study  ere  examination  for  ad 
mission  to  the  bar. 

The  life  of  a  real  law  student  is  narrow,  absorb 
ing,  intense,  exclusive  and  most  uneventful.  He 
has  appreciated  its  importance  to  himself  and  cor- 


66  B.   F.    WADE. 

rectly  apprehended  the  demands  of  his  future  pro 
fession.  Shy,  silent  and  retiring,  the  allurements 
of  society,  the  charm  of  outdoor  life,  the  roar  and 
clamor  of  the  great  outer  world,  cease  to  distract 
him.  Let  no  young  man  who  does  not  seriously 
intend  the  law  as  his  life  work,  waste  his  time  in 
dwaddling  over  books  in  orthodox  sheep,  and 
kindred  vices,  for  vices  to  him  they  will  be.  He 
will  not  dip  deep  enough  to  ensure  useful  mental  dis 
cipline.  He  will  secure  just  law  enough  to  mislead 
himself  and  those  who  trust  in  him.  He  will  never 
know  how  little  he  does  know,  small  as  it  is  certain 
to  be. 

The  young  Wades  made  the  law  theirs — made 
themselves  over  to  it — imbibed  its  spirit  and  ac 
quired  the  capacity  to  become  real  lawyers.  There 
is  now  scarcely  a  legend  of  their  student  days. 
There  used  to  be  many  traditions  of  the  brothers 
about  the  older  Canfield,  particularly  of  Frank, 
who  impressed  all  men.  L_LJiave  tried  in  vain  to 
find  how  he  impressed  women.  Shy  of  women, 
diffident  of  power  to  please,  he  seems  to  have 
never  sought  the  society  of  ladies.  I  am  sorry  for 
that.  His  decided  ways,  pithy  sayings,  original 
views  of  men  and  things,  his  well  marked  individ 
uality,  left  a  flavor  of  his  presence  that  took  many 
years  and  three  generations  to  dissipate.  JTwo 
years,  then  he  was  to  face  the  not  apprehended 
examination,  beyond  which,  gray  and  misty,  was 
the  great  world  of  the  unknown.  Yet  ere  the 
trial  for  admission,  James,  the  father,  and  Mary, 


B.  F.    WADE.  67 

the  mother,  were  laid  to  rest  in  the  shadow  of  the 
western  forest. 

James  Wade,  the  elder,  was  seventy-one  at  the 
time  of  the  westward  migration.  His  vigor  was 
in  the  decline.  He  was  boyishly  eager  to  start 
for  its  west.  No  land  since  that  first  paradise  of 
the  Occident  has  ever  been  made  more  alluring  by 
stories  of  returned  explorers  than  that  favored 
region.  Mary  Upham,  a  little  stouter,  never  very 
tall,  retained  her  full  mental  vigor  and  was  still 
strong  of  limb.  She  knew  she  was  going  forever 
from  home  into  a  literal  wilderness.  Quietly  and 
silently  she  bade  adieu  to  the  small,  well-kept 
mounds  over  baby  Nancy  and  baby  Charles,  lin 
gered  about  the  spring  and  in  one  or  two  pleasant 
nooks  in  the  garden  ;  went  out  to  the  orchard, 
took  a  final  look  off  from  a  near  summit,  with  her 
own  hand  closed  the  outside  door,  and  took  her 
place  by  her  impatient  husband's  side,  as  so  many 
women  had  done  and  would  do.  Bravely,  when 
they  started,  she  refused  to  turn  her  eyes  back 
ward.  They  had  looked  their  last  on  what  she 
loved  of  that  earth,  and  steadily  and  cheerfully  she 
set  them  westward.  Nancy  and  Sidney  and  Theo 
dore  and  Charles  were  there.  James  was  weary 
before  they  reached  James  junior's,  where  they 
lingered.  The  full  significance  of  the  enterprise 
to  him  began  to  reveal  itself  when  they  again 
moved  on  the  returnless  journey.  Very  well  he 
endured  to  Buffalo.  Further  lay  the  Cattaragus 
swamps  and  woods.  Where  were  the  boys  going, 


•68  B.  F.   WADE. 

and  into  what  ?  Beyond,  on  the  wave-beaten  beach 
of  the  solitary  lake,  were  days  to  him  of  .reverie 
and  half  dream.  The  endless  waste  of  water,  the 
boundless  border  of  trees.  He  grew  weary  of  the 
monotony  of  the  woods — all  woods.  Such  trees 
he  had  never  seen.  He  soon  lost  the«power  to 
admire  and  wonder  at  them.  They  wearied  and 
then  wore  him.  The  endless  level  plain  became 
unendurable.  It  was  quite  all  the  brave,  tender 
Mary  could  do  to  keep  him  up.  All  the  way  and 
from  the  first  he  deluded  himself.  Ohio-Andover 
was  a  place  dreadfully  level,  but  there  were  cleared 
fields,  pleasant,  grassy  meadows,  white  houses, 
and  lazy,  fat  cattle,  a  place  where  he  could  see 
through  and  out  of  the  woods.  Yet  the  further 
they  went  the  more  endless  seemed  the  everlast 
ing  forest.  Finally  the  wagon  stopped  beside  a 
rude  cabin,  with  the  tall,  great  trees  thick  about 
it.  There,  tripped  out  to  him  comely,  sweet-faced 
wife  Emily,  and  here  were  Sidney  and  Theodore 
and  Charles — what  were  they  all  doing  here  in  the 
woods  ?  Then  it  came  to  the  old  man  that  this 
was  the  final  end,  this  was  Ohio-Andover,  home. 
He  went  into  the  woods  too  late  ;  children  never 
comprehend  how  cruel  they  are  to  attempt  to 
transplant  an  old  man.  It  is  hardest  on  him  ; 
a  woman  is  more  transferable.  He  never  took 
root  in  the  new,  strange  soil. 

The  strong,  fresh,  abounding  life,  so  inspiring 
and  invigorating  to  the  young,  the  middle-aged, 
never  thrilled  his  shrunken  veins.  He  was  recon- 


B.  F.   WADE.  69 

ciled,  passive,  even  cheerful,  a  little  querulous, 
and  went  pottering  about,  resumed  the  stories  of 
his  early  advetures  whenever  anyone  would  listen,, 
then  grew  forgetful  and  told  the  same  thing  over 
and  over  to  the  same  person,  as  a  thing  he  never 
had  heard  before.  He  would  sit  watching  the 
circling  shadows  of  the  trees  as  the  sun  cast  them 
over  the  low  cabin.  As  time  wore  on  and  the 
woods  receded,  came  the  natural  wish  to  return  to 
the  Feeding  Hills.  He  dreamed  of  it,  planned 
the  journey,  the  time  it  would  take,  the  money  it 
would  cost,  the  places  where  they  would  put  up 
for  the  night.  He  finally  thought  he  and  Mary 
would  start  and  go  alone — would  walk  it — and  she 
indulged  the  idea.  As  she  made  no  preparations 
for  the  journey,  he  concluded  to  go  alone,  and 
put  together  a  few  things  and  set  times  to  go,  and 
finally  it  was  a  source  of  disquiet  to  faithful  Mary 
fearing  he  would  start  away  alone,  on  a  pilgrimage 
to  the  old  home,  and  she  watched  and  was  on 
guard. 

Mary's  self,  so  bright,  cheerful,  patient  and 
hitherto  so  strong  and  hopeful  for  the  rest,  took 
the  new,  strange  life  pleasantly.  The  winter  of 
1 825-' 26  was  severe.  It  was  too  much  for  her. 
It  became  apparent  to  all  save  James  that  unless 
the  warm  weather  came  early  and  genially,  she 
would  see  none  but  the  early  flowers  in  bloom, 
would  never  hear  her  favorite,  the  hermit  thrush, 
at  twilight  in  the  near  wood  again.  She  died 
April  10,  1826. 


70  B.  F.    WADE. 

James  had  now  no  wish  to  go  back  to  Massa 
chusetts.  He  was  only  eager  to  follow  Mary. 
She  had  not  long  to  wait  for  him,  and  he  set  out 
on  the  same  way,  the  eternally  old  road,  May  9, 
following.  In  age,  death  does  not  long  divide  the 
really  married. 


CHAPTER  III. 

Admitted  to  the  Bar.—  Jefferson.  —  TheCourts.  —  Trialby  Jury.—  Helps 
of  the  Lawyer.  —  Reports  of  that  Time.  —  First  Case.  —  Practice.  — 
Difficulties  in  Speaking.  —  Overcomes  Them.—  J.  R.  Giddfngs.  — 
Giddings  and  Wade.  —  Personal  Appearance.  —  Manners.  —  Rudeness 
of  Speech.  —  Religion.  —  Personal  Popularity.  —  Many  Young  Imi 
tators.—  Financial  Disaster  of  1837.  —  General  Ruin.  —  Wade  and 
Ranney. 


WADE,  with  his  brother,  was  admitted 
to  the  bar  late  in  the  summer  of  1827,  at  a  term 
of  the  supreme  court,  held  at  Jefferson,  the  seat 
of  Ashtabula  county.  That  then,  as  now,  was 
the  highest  court  in  the  state,  and  could  alone 
admit  applicants  to  the  bar.  'It  was  originally  an 
"  ambulatory  court,"  always  "on  the  circuit."  It 
had  to  hold  one  term  in  each  of  the  ever-increasing 
number  of  counties.  Two  of  the  three  judges 
constituted  a  quorum.  They  exercised  the  right 
of  reserving  cases  for  a  full  bench  —  court  in  banco  — 
the  origin  of  the  court  as  it  now  exists.  The 
earlier  of  Hammond's  'Ohio  Reports'  (first  of 
the  state)  contain  cases  decided  on  the  circuit  and 
in  banco.  The  judges  were  paid  a  thousand  dol 
lars  a  year,  were  allowed  nothing  for  traveling 
expenses,  and  were  expected  to  visit  every  county- 


72  B.  F.    WADE. 

seat  each  twelvemonth,  and  did  when  accessible. 
A  part  of  the  northwest  at  times  could  not  be 
reached.*  A  history  of  the  early  jurisprudence 
of  the  state  would  be  in  order  and  interesting. 
Maugre  the  meagre  salaries,  Ohio  was  fortunate 
in  its  supreme  judges — Pease,  Tod,  Huntington, 
Hitchcock,  Sherman,  Grimkie,  Wood,  Lane,  and 
others.  They  established  its  jurisprudence  on 
very  enduring  foundations.  Few  of  their  cases 
have  been  shaken.  The  court  had  appellate  and 
jurisdiction  in  error  from  the  common  pleas — the 
only  other  court  of  record.  It  also  had  a  jury, 
and  might  and  did  try  cases  of  murder  directly. 
The  later  attempts  to  relieve  suitors  by  increas 
ing  the  number  of  courts  is  a  weak  device.  It 
but  makes  endless  the  already  wearying  way  of 
the  law. 

Admission  to  the  bar  was  then  not  a  mere  mat 
ter  of  form.  The  examinations  were  thorough 
and  searching — often  conducted  by  the  judges 
themselves.  No  standing  conundrums  were  pro 
posed,  as  "the  rule  in  Shelly's  case."-f-  It  is  said 
that  Frank  Wade  had  never  been  in  a  court  of 
record,  had  never  seen  a  supreme  judge,  until 
called  to  the  ordeal  of  his  examination,  which  we 
know  the  Wades  successfully  passed.  There  is 

*Judge  Peter  Hitchcock  used  to  drive  a  sorrel  horse  in  a  wooden, 
springed,  light  wagon,  painted  yellow,  annually  over  the  state  for  many 
years. 

t  It  is  one  of  the  curiosities  of  the  older  law  that  while  this  famous 
rule  is  preserved  as  one  of  judgment,  the  case  itself  is  lost,  was  never 
reported. 


B.  F.    WADE.  73 

no  profession  so  uncertain  as  the  law.  Of  all  who 
study  it,  twenty  per  cent,  is  a  fair  estimate  of 
those  who  succeed.  Lawyers  are  grown  rather 
than  made.  They  are  never  born.  No  gifts  can 
make  a  lawyer.  It  is  largely  the  youth's  own 
work.  Will  and  staying  power — years,  many  of 
them,  are  necessary — natural  aptitude,  talent, 
genius,  are  great  helps ;  industry,  patience  and 
time  will  do  more.  In  no  other  calling  can  men 
so  little  forecast  results,  and  I  may  say  in  no  other 
are  the  final  results  of  the  mere  lawyer  more  un 
satisfactory.  He  may  sit  and  contemplate  the 
leathern  backs  of  his  two  or  three  thousand  law 
books,  and  for  the  rest,  innumerable  pigeon  holes, 
filled  with  yellow  papers,  tokens  of  work  and 
woes  innumerable.* 

Frank  Wade  was  now  an  attorney  and  coun 
selor  at  law,  and  solicitor  in  chancery.  He  has 
taken  the  oath  of  office,  his  name  recorded  on  the 
then  small  roll  of  men,  some  of  whom  are  to  be 
honorably  distinguished,  and  he  has  the  clerk's 
certificate  of  the  fact  bearing  the  broad  seal  of  the 
supreme  court  of  the  state  of  Ohio.  It  was  very 
unusual  then  for  a  farmer's  boy  to  attempt  to 
break  away,  escape  to  a  profession,  most  of  all 
the  law.  He  is  always  subjected  to  criticism 
more  or  less  sharp.  "He  feels  above  farmer's 
work,  he  wants  to  wear  broadcloth  every  day." 
"  He's  a  lazy  chap."  "  He'll  never  come  to  any- 

*  These  are  the  reflections  of  the  weary  old  lawyer  at  the  close,  not 
•the  anticipations  of  the  young  barrister  at  the  beginning 


74  B.  F.    WADE. 

thing,"  and  more  of  that  sort.  The  law  was  sup 
posed  to  open  to  the  fortunately  fated,  an  easy  road 
to  riches,  honor,  leisure.  The  average  mind  has  no 
conception  of  the  labor  of  those  to  whom  labor 
comes,  of  the  wearying  soul  anguish  of  those  to 
whom  it  does  not.  In  Ashtabula  at  that  time, 
there  had  been  but  one  or  two  instances  of  young 
men  who  had  studied  law.  Young  Joshua  R. 
Giddings  had  been  admitted  in  1821.  He  was 
looked  upon  as  a  rarely  exceptional  young  man. 
It  was  not  likely  these  Wade  boys — two  of  them 
— would  prove  to  be  of  the  same  order.  Of  the 
two,  less  was  expected  of  the  more  silent,  thought 
ful  elder.  So  wise  is  the  world.  Frank  heard 
that  he  was  talked  about  when  he  went  off  with 
the  drover,  and  more  when  he  went  with  Ned  to 
Canfield.  All  that  was  past.  He  was  safely  at 
the  bar.  He  felt  he  had  the  pith  in  him.  It  must 
now  work  to  the  surface  and  show  itself  to  the 
world. 

The  usually  perplexing  problem  with  the  young 
lawyer  is  where  to  plant  himself.  He  often  sup 
poses  that  somewhere  is  a  place — an  opening — 
yearning  for  him.  He  sometimes  spends  months 
in  looking  for  it.  I  never  knew  one  of  these  young 
men  to  find  it,  They  find  all  the  places  taken,  all 
the  openings  filled.  In  the  nature  of  things,  they 
always  are.  I  like  better  the  answer  of  the  young 
man  who,  in  reply  to  the  question  of  a  lawyer  in 
a  western  town,  "Are  you  looking  for  an  open 
ing?"  said:  "No.  I  am  looking  for  a  place  to 


B.  F.   WADE.  75 

make  one."  For  the  Wades  there  was  small  choice. 
They  were  west  No  one  thought  of  going  east, 
and  few  south.  At  about  the  geographical  centre 
of  broad  Ashtabula  was  the  township  of  Jefferson. 
The  region  was  monotonously  level.  The  earth 
at  the  centre  had  managed  to  lift  itself  by  an  im 
perceptible  swell,  a  foot  or  two,  and  here  in  1811 
the  commissioners  of  the  county  established  the 
county-seat.  No  one  now  can  form  an  accurate 
idea  of  the  muddy,  sodden  little  town,  largely  of 
log  buildings,  when  the  young  Wades  went  there 
for  examination.  The  woods  were  very  near, 
walling  it  in  all  round.  They  still  covered  the 
whole  country,  with  stumpy  and  muddy  roads 
through  them  leading  to  it;  the  wide  swampy 
lands  were  traversed  on  log-ways  of  sections  of 
trees  twelve  or  eighteen  inches  through,  laid  side 
by  side,  sometimes  for  miles  in  extent.  Here 
the  court  of  common  plea's,  consisting  of  a  presi- 
ident-judge — a  lawyer  elected  as  were  the  supreme 
judges,  by  the  legislature — and  three  associates, 
laymen,  sat  three  times  a  year.  It  had  universal 
jurisdiction,  civil,  criminal  and  probate ;  also 
licensed  public  houses,  then  called  taverns,  as  was 
the  better  old  English  way.  It  also  had  appellate 
jurisdiction,  and  in  error,  in  all  cases  arising 
before  justices  of  the  peace,  who  collectively  dis 
pose  of  infinitely  a  larger  number  of  cases,  and 
settle  the  rights  to  a  larger  sum  total,  than  do 
the  courts  of  record.  Like  all  new  communities, 
the  pioneers  of  the  Western  Reserve  were  litigious. 


76  B.  F.    WADE. 

The  causes  of  their  suits  and  the  sums  involved 
would  throw  a  curious  light  on  their  character  and 
time.  To  go  to  a  lawsuit  between  others,  above 
all  go  to  court  at  Jefferson,  Warren  or  Chardon, 
was  a  great  thing.  To  be  called  as  a  juror  gave  a 
man  importance.  He  not  only  heard  the  lawyers, 
they  talked  to  him.  He  was  a  part  of  the  tribu 
nal  ;  ever  afterward  a  man  of  note  in  his  neigh 
borhood.  The  young  advocate,  whether  in  the 
log  house  of  the  magistrate  or  the  larger  forum  of 
the  common  pleas,  was  sure  of  a  large  and  very 
appreciative  audience,  than  which  nothing  gives 
so  much  interest  and  consequence  to  a  trial  and 
the  man  conducting  it.  Trial  by  jury  is  incident 
ally  valuable,  as  it  so  largely  adds  interest  and  im 
portance  to  the  ordinary  administration  of  law. 
Contrast  the  usual  nisi  prius  courts,  with  the 
supreme  court  of  the  United  States  in  session. 
Note  the  attentive  throngs,  the  presence  of  re 
porters  in  the  one;  the  emptiness  and  sleepy 
silence  of  the  other.  Day  by  day,  in  the  capitol, 
the  third  coordinate  department  of  the  govern 
ment  discharges  its  high  and  sacred  functions 
without  a  solitary  spectator.  At  the  best  a  casual 
visitor  flits  in,  with,  perhaps,  a  lady.  A  minute 
satisfies  their  curiosity,  and  they  glide  away.  The 
gravest  cases  are  heard  and  decided  in  the  pres 
ence  of  counsel  and  the  officers  and  pages  of  the 
court  only.  The  philosophy  of  the  history  of 
a  free  people  may  be  largely  drawn  from  its  legis- 


B.  F.    WADE.  77 

lation,  its  character  and  bent,  its  genius  from  its 
litigation — its  crimes  even. 

For  aids  in  practice  the  young  Wades  had  Tidd 
and  Chitty.  '  The  Ohio  legislature  and  the  courts 
had  secured  for  them  about  the  best  system  of 
procedure  the  common  law  was  capable  of — 
simple,  practical,  safe.  The  gains  by  the  later 
code  were  of  doubtful  value.  Its  good  was  nearly 
all  due  to  the  modified  English  practice.  Its  bad 
was  its  own,  abundant,  and  due  to  the  tendency 
of  the  later  years  for  mere  detail,  which  mars  alike 
constitutions  and  statutes — a  weak  love  for  an 
alysis,  which  has  rendered  trials  interminable  and 
multiplied  sub-issues  until  the  few  verdicts  ob 
tained  cannot  be  sustained.  These  are  faults  of 
the  bar,  as  courts  and  lawyers.  If  the  young  bar 
risters  looked  for  adjudged  cases,  they  must  still 
go  mainly  to  England.  IJammond's  first  volume 
was  published  in  1823.  There  were  about  twenty- 
five  volumes  of  the  United  States  supreme  court 
reports,  a  few  United  States  circuit  court  volumes, 
and  from  twenty  to  thirty  of  each  of  the  oldest 
states.*  No  old  lawyer  had  them  all.  These  young 
men  had  none  of  them.  The  Ohio  statutes  at  that 
time  were  found  in  the  twenty-ninth  volume,  "The 
Sheepskin  Code  "  of  the  lawyers. 

Of  the  more  notable  lawyers  they  found  at  the 


*  Happy  time  !  Ere  the  weak  wash  of  the  forty  odd  volumes  of 
state  reports  each  year,  the  despair  of  the  lawyer,  adding  immensely 
to  his  work,  and  nothing  to  his  learning.  He  wants  to  know  what 
the  law  is.  He  need  not  care  what  the  courts  of  Beersheba  say 
about  it. 


78  B.  F.    WADE. 

bar  of  Ashtabula  Samuel  Wheeler,  Mr.  Giddings 
and  two  or  three  others.  O.  H.  Fitch,  Horace 
Wilder,  S.  S.  Osborn  and  O.  H.  Knapp  were  ad 
mitted  at  about  the  same  time,  as  was  Seabury 
Ford,  the  future  governor  of  the  state,  in  adjoin 
ing  Geauga.  William  L.  Perkins  and  James  H. 
Paine  were  at  Painesville  of  that  county,  as  was 
S.  W.  Phelps.  Rufus  P.  Spalding  must  have 
come  to  the  bar  about  the  same  time,  and  Sher 
lock  J.  Andrews  and  John  W.  Willey  were  at 
Cleveland.  Warren  had  its  bar ;  so  had  Ravenna. 
The  practice  of  "  riding  the  circuit  "  like  a  Metho 
dist  preacher  never  largely  obtained  on  the  Reserve 
as  in  the  middle  and  southern  parts  of  the  state. 
No  one  has  ever  told  us  of  Frank  Wade's  first 
case,  which  usually  stands  in  the  lawyer's  memory 
as  the  hunter's  first  deer,  the  lover's  first  kiss,  and 
costs  him  as  many  tremors  and  as  much  fever. 
Of  course  it  was  before  a  magistrate.  It  may  have 
been  a  small  trespass,  or  a  case  growing  out  of  the 
universal  course  of  business,  of  giving  notes  of 
hand  payable  in  specific  articles,  as  "  neat  stock," 
"grain,"  "store  pay,"  or,  more  general  still,  "in 
produce."  These  were  a  fruitful  source  of  litiga 
tion,  small  and  large,  reaching  to  my  time.* 

*  Among  my  first  considerable  cases  in  the  Ohio  supreme  court  was 
one  on  a  writing  to  pay  for  a  farm  in  wool.  The  case  of  Hostatt  was 
another,  in  a  small  way,  before  a  justice  of  the  peace.  He  had  a  due- 
bill  for  two  dollars  and  a  half,  payable  in  produce.  The  maker  ten 
dered  wheat.  Of  course  Hostatt  failed,  a  tender  being  kept  good. 
He  wanted  whiskey.  "  W'eat  !  w'eat  !  w'at  kin  I  do  with  w'eat  ?" 
he  demanded.  "  W'iskey  now,  I  knows  right  w'ere  I  kin  turn  that." 


B.  F.    WADE.  79 

(It  is  possible  his  first  case  was  before  his  brother- 
in-law,  Cadwell,  to  settle  a  controversy  about  some 
'  '  saw-logs."  That,  or  Cadwell  was  a  party.  Frank 
had  no  case  and  was  beaten.*^ 

'  Another  source  of  litigation  arose  from  the 
method  of  land  sales  on  the  Reserve.  Few  paid 
for  lands  at  purchase.  They  took  contracts  of  sale 
from  the  owner  or  agent,  called  in  the  language 
of  the  time  an  "article."  The  buyer  "articled" 
the  land.  They  should  have  been  recorded.  They 
seldom  were.  Of  course  the  land  office  knew  of 
the  sale,  strangers  never.  Often  the  purchaser 
either  never  took  possession  or  abandoned  it  if 
he  did.  Years  ran  on  without  his  being  heard 
from,  the  owner  knows  nothing  of  him.  The  ar 
ticles  become  forfeit  for  non-payment,  without 
notice  to  the  buyer.  Many  "  lots  "  or  fraction3 
so  held  were  "  bought  out  from  under  him  "  — 
the  holder  still  in  possession,  as  it  was  called. 
There  were  grave  questions  of  "  betterments,"  as 
the  improvements  were  called.  Most  of  the 
owners  were  non-residents.  The  legislature  came 
to  the  aid  of  holders.  The  cases  were  numerous, 
sometimes  difficult,  important  and  interesting. 


*  S.  S.  Osborne,  a  student  and  partner  of  Giddings,  had  the  other 
side.  Himself  became  prominent  at  the  bar,  and  later  a  leading 
member  of  the  Ohio  senate.  He  was  my  informant.  He  said  at  that 
time  Frank  could  hardly  speak  at  all  ;  but,  though  modest,  was  the 
most  courageous  man  that  ever  faced  a  court.  __  A_  _ 

t  N.  D.  Webb  of  Warren  was  a  noted  lawyer  in  this  class  'of  cases. 
Nearly  all  the  leading  lawyers  had  many  of  them.  It  may  be  remarked 
that  lawyers'  fees  were  then  ridiculously  small,  usually  paid  in  kind 


8o  B.  F.    WADE. 

Mr.  Wade,  like  most  young  lawyers,  did  a  good 
deal  of  waiting  for  clients.  That  is  the  ordeal. 
He  had  to  see  himself  passed  for  other  men  his 
inferiors,  because  they  were  his  seniors.  The 
cool,  phlegmatic  New  Englanders  have  always 
been  slow  to  trust  young  men.  "  I  was  always 
too  young,"  said  a  witty  man  in  his  decline,  speak 
ing  of  them,  "  until  it  was  discovered  tha.t  I  was 
too  old  !"  It  is  still  the  rule  with  them.^  Such 
was  his  standing,  however,  that  in  1831  he  formed 
a  partnership  with  J.  R.  Giddings,  which  intro 
duced  him  to  a  much  wider  practice,  and  more 
important  cases.  The  position  of  junior,  for  a 
young  or  ordinary  man,  to  one  of  the  standing 
of  Mr.  Giddings,  is  full  of  peril.  He  is  apt  to  be 
overshadowed,  dwarfed.  He  keeps  the  books, 
looks  up  the  law,  runs  of  errands,  serves  notices, 
helplessly  dependent  upon  the  senior,  whose  clients 
never  become  his.  He  never  secures  any  of  his 
own.  He  merely  answers  questions  as  to  him — 
his  engagements.  In  court  he  is  helpless  alone. 
Always  leaning  on  his  partner,  he  can  never  go 
alone.  Frank  Wade  never  filled  this  role.  He 
was  of  good  age,  had  confidence,  courage  and  will 
power.  He  had  taken  root  and  made  healthful 
growth.  He  was  now  to  occupy  a  larger,  wider 
field  for  himself  as  for  the  firm. 

It  is  said  that  few  young  men  ever  showed  less 

and  stipulated — the  amount  in  advance.  I  once  received  twelve  bushels 
of  wheat  for  trying  a  case  before  a  J.  P.  and  a  jury.  Wheat  was  fifty 
cents  per  bushel. 


B.  F.    WADE.  8 1 

aptitude  for  public  speaking  than  did  he.  The 
testimony  to  this  is  unanimous/^  Probably  no 
modern  people  possess  more  native  aptitude  for 
effective  speech  than  the  born  Americans  of  the 
the  present  time.  No  people,  ancient  or  modern, 
not  excepting  the  old  Greeks,  more  readily 
become  fluent  speakers.  As  an  art,  oratory  is 
everywhere  lost.  One  wonders  when  he  thinks 
what  a  controlling  part  speech  exercises  in  all 
human  affairs,  private  as  well  as  public,  that  so 
little  attention  is  paid  to  training  men,  and  women 
as  well,  in  the  use  of  words  orally. 

Wade  seemed  an  exception  to  his  countrymen, 
who  do  now,  in  schools,  give  very  ineffective  at 
tention  to  elocution.  They  did  then,  some,  but 
he  knew  nothing  of  the  higher  school s.j_JI is  ef 
forts  for  a  long  time  were  dead  failures — so  fla 
grantly  so  that  he  was  laughed  at,  ridiculed,  for 
the  sorry  showing  he  made.  The  shame  and  mor 
tification  it  cost  him,  the  effort  of  will,  persistence 
and  endurance  of  actual  labor  and  agony,  to  finally 
win  success  as  a  speaker,  were  never  known  to 
others, !  not  even  to  Ned,  who  had  some  of  the 
same  "difficulties  to  overcome.  He  had  never  at 
tempted  a  declamation,  or  to  recite,  save  from  the 
'Day  of  Doom,'  of  the  great-grandfather.  ;  The 
moment  he  rose  to  his  feet,  ideas  fled,  memory 
was  annihilated,  language  was  dead ;  a  more  sen 
sitive,  less  self-sustained  man  would  have  never 
tried  but  once — making  such  failures.  Many  in 
stances  of  abandonment  of  the  profession  for  this 


82  B.  F.    WADE. 

cause  are  well  known.  The  American  young^ 
lawyer  must  become  an  advocate — that  was  the 
rule.  Frank  Wade  was  to  be  an  advocate — not  a 
mere  halting,  hemming  stammerer,  but  an  advo 
cate,  an  orator,  strong,  bold,  effective  ;  and  such 
he  became.  Not  merely  an  average,  _a  fair  speaker, 
but  he  pushed,  battled,  toiled,  to  the  first  rank, 
and  among  the  very  foremost  of  that.  Even  in 
his  worst  day  he  refused  to  write  and  commit  a 
speech.  It  is  rare  that  a  lawyer  can  find  the  time 
for  that.  He  scorned  it.  He  would  become  a 
ready,  effective,  fluent  speaker — and  he  did  as 
stated. 

The  faculty  of  rising  in  court,  stating  the  case, 
conducting  the  examination  of  numerous  witnesses,, 
arguing  questions  of  the  admissibility  of  evi 
dence,  during  a  protracted,  sharply  contested  trial ;. 
and  on  the  close  of  the  evidence,  without  inter 
vening  time,  then  proceed  to  the  presentation  of 
the  case,  law  and  evidence,  clearly,  strongly,  logi 
cally,  with  pertinence,  wit,  eloquence,  perhaps 
pathos,  always  astonishes  the  lay  spectators,  as  it 
well  may.  Such  efforts  rank  with  the  best  work 
of  the  human  intellect,  and  the  men  capable  of  it, 
habitually,  must  have  much  mental  excellence  of 
a  high  order.  An  advocate  who  at  will  did  such 
work,  Mr.  Wade,  after  years  of  failure,  became  ; 
and  he  enjoyed  the  fruits  of  it  while  he  lived.  Per 
haps  this  was  really  his  greatest  success. 

The  first  necessity  of  successful  advocacy  is  en 
tire  belief  in  the  justice  of  a  cause.     It  is  the  first 


B.  F.    WADE.  83 

duty  of  an  advocate  to  convince  himself  he  is  right, 
however  he  may  fare  with  the  court  and  jury.  It 
is  a  poor  advocate  who  cannot  do  this  ;  a  careless 
one,  or  a  very  bad  case,  where  he  does  not  do  it. 
It  is  a  reproach  to  the  bar — many  good  and  very 
pious  men  are  called  upon  to  shake  their  heads 
over  it — this  constant  spectacle  of  honest  men, 
earnestly  contending  on  the  opposite  sides  of  the 
same  case,  one  of  whom  must  be  in  the  wrong, 
and  must  know  he  is.  They  with  charitable  effort 
cannot  understand  it.  Indeed  !  Divines,  the  most 
learned  and  pious,  differ  as  to  the  meaning  of  pas 
sages  of  writ  called  holy,  given  as  both  sides  aver 
by  divine  inspiration.  They  used  to  burn  one  an 
other  for  this  difference.  As  fqr  lawyers,  it  should 
be  remembered  that  of  civil  cases  not  one  in  ten 
involves  directly  a  question  of  moral  right  and 
wrong.  .  They  usually  are  to  determine  which  of 
two  parties  is  to  suffer  a  loss,  occasioned  by  the 
act  of  a  third.  One  man  liable  to  a  loss  goes 
to  a  lawyer  and  gives  him  his  version  of  the  prov 
able  facts,  who,  making  fair  allowance,  honestly 
finds  the  law  with  him  and  commences  a  suit. 
The  party  sued  tells  his  version  to  another  lawyer, 
who  making  the  same  allowance,  finds  he  has  a 
good  defense  and  denies  the  cause  of  action.  From 
that  day  to  the  trial  each  party  looks  for  witnesses 
to  sustain  his  statement  of  fact  and  the  laws 
for  authorities  in  support  of  their  versions  of 
the  law.  When  we  remember  that  a  man 
can  argue  himself  into  or  out  of  anything, 


84  B.  F.   WADE. 

we  may  be  assured  that  each  lawyer  sits  down 
to  the  trial  with  the  conscientious  belief  that 
he  is  right.  The  trouble  is  not  in  the  law  nor 
in  the  lawyers,  but  in  the  facts.  Neither  party 
knew  them  all.  The  best  and  most  honest  efforts 
of  both  sides  in  proof  still  leave  them  in  some 
doubt.  This  fairly  illustrates  the  true  position  of 
the  really  good  lawyer,  who  would  not  intention 
ally  deceive  himself,  and  who  would  no  more  tell 
a  lie  to  the  court  or  jury  than  would  any  true  man 
in  an  ordinary  transaction.  If  he  did,  the  lawyer 
on  the  other  side  would  instantly  expose  him. 
The  fact  that  the  contests  of  lawyers  are  face 
to  face  in  the  open  courts,  in  presence  of  in 
terested  and  curious  spectators,  keeps  men  at  their 
best,  true,  honest  and  chivalrous.  Even  criminals 
must  be  defended  with  learning  and  zeal.  The 
state  appoints  the  judge,  the  prosecutor  ;  the  jurors 
are  its  citizens,  a  part  of  the  state.  So  are  the 
sheriff  and  his  officers,  the  press  and  public  are 
against  the  accused,  have  cornered  him.  They 
bring  him  from  the  jail  and  place  him  in  the  dock. 
In  the  name  of  decency,  has  not  the  state  suffi 
ciently  the  advantage  ?  A  lawyer  can  perform  no 
more  sacred  duty  when  called  to  his  side  than  to 
give  him  his  best  and  most  effective  services.  I 
utterly  repudiate  Lord  Brougham's  rule — as  do 
American  lawyers  generally.  A  lawyer's  first 
duty,  over  and  above  his  client,  is  to  the  law.  He 
must  make  fair  and  honorable  use  of  such  means 
only  as  to  him  appear  clean  and  real.  This  ex- 


B.  F.    WADE.  85 

eludes  perjury, and  simulated  evidence  ;  with  these 
let  him  not  forget  God,  and  do  his  best.  He  will 
then  only  secure  a  fair  trial,  such  as  the  law  and 
all  good  men  award  to  the  worst  criminals.  These 
were  the  rules  of  Frank  Wade's  professional  life. 
Unquestionably  he  seldom  tried  a  case  without 
believing  he  was  right,  ought  to  succeed,  and  so 
did  his  best.  That  best  was  usually  among  the 
very  good — the  best  of  his  time  and  opportunities. 
His  excellence  as  a  lawyer  consisted  in  the  clear 
ness  with  which  he  apprehended  the  real  matter 
in  dispute,  where  and  upon  what  it  rested,  upon 
what  it  turned,  and  what  in  the  white  light  of  law 
would  govern  and  control  it.  These  means  were 
to  be  found  and  applied.  Law  with  him  was  a 
science,  not  a  trade.  Its  reason — philosophy — he 
mastered,  could  deliver  them  into  the  easy  appre 
hension  of  the  court  in  strong,  well-selected  lan 
guage,  best  adapted  for  forensic  presentation.  As 
an  advocate  he  had  the  rarest  of  powers — that  of 
clear  seeing  and  clear  statement — statement  which 
outruns  argument;  precludes  it;  statement  which 
argument  sometimes  obscures.  All  great  truths 
should  be  left  to  their  own  simple  assertion.  The 
advocate  should  place  them  in  clear  view  and  leave 
them.  A  good  advocate  must  be  a  good  lawyer. 
While  he  was  an  admirable  lawyer,  he  dealt  equally 
well — perhaps  better — with  facts.  He  never  made 
that  common  mistake  of  overestimating  the  mental 
capacity  of  a  jury.  He  never  fired  over  their  heads. 
He  knew  their  inability  for  long-continued,  hard, 


86  B.  F.    WADE. 

intellectual  labor.  He  never  overloaded  them. 
In  the  language  of  his  mother  and  sisters,  learned 
in  the  Feeding  Hills  before  he  was  ten  years  old, 
simple  and  chaste,  he  laid  before  them  the  real 
matter  for  them,  delivered  it  safely  into  their 
custody.  He  first  cleared  the  field  of  all  mere 
rubbish,  then  made  two  or  three  strong,  conclusive 
points,  the  fewest  that  would  dispose  of  the  case, 
in  the  most  direct,  possible  way.  His  conclusions 
were  irrefutable — his  premises  admitted.  It  was 
only  when  his  foundations  could  be  assailed  that 
he  was  successfully  replied  to.  All  his  figures,  his 
illustrations,  were  drawn  from  their  own  lives — 
forcible,  laughable  at  times.  Not  a  soft,  bland 
speaker,  he  never  attempted  to  persuade,  lead  or 
mislead.  No  sham,  no  affectation,  no  flattery,  no 
semblance  of  demagogueism,  no  cant,  no  hypocrisy, 
but  plain,  honest,  intense  sincerity,  working  for 
conviction. 

He  had  a  good,  well  knit,  well  proportioned 
figure  ;  erect,  flexile,  well  turned  ;  a  noble  head, 
grandly  borne;  a  face  well  featured,  striking;  a 
fine  mouth,  black,  melancholy  eyes  that  had  a  way 
of  burning  with  a  deep,  smothered  fire  ;  voice 
good.  He  usually  began  to  speak  standing  very 
erect,  his  right  hand  in  his  breast  within  the  vest 
When  something  striking,  emphatic — a  point — 
was  reached,  he  rose  on  his  toes,  threw  out  his 
hand,  sometimes  both,  with  force  and  grace,  rising 
and  sinking  on  his  toes  in  a  peculiar,  and  in  a  very 
effective  way.  Behind  all  his  clearness  were  force, 


B.  F.    WADE.  87 

strength,  logic  intense,  never  overwrought  earn 
estness,  and  more  than  all,  better  than  all,  stood  a 
pure-hearted,  clean-living  truthful  man,  every  fibre 
a  man.  All  these  made  him  one  of  the  most  dan 
gerous  as  one  of  the  most  successful  advocates  of 
his  day.  I  had  heard  him  spoken  of  as  a  strong, 
coarse,  unpleasant  speaker.  Early  in  the  forties  I 
heard  him  argue  a  demurer  at  Warren.  I  thought 
him  a  handsome,  graceful,  as  well  as  a  strong, 
bold  speaker.  My  early  impression  always  re 
mained.  He  and  his  brother  were  the  best,  or 
two  of  the  best,  special  pleaders  in  the  state,  as 
practically  they  handled  the  rules  of  evidence  the 
most  effectively.  Hence,  they  were  the  most 
successful  lawyers,  the  most  dangerous  opponents 
of  those  now  old  contests  of  the  Northern  Ohio 
bar. 

While  the  elder  brother  was  of  rather  rude — 
unpolished — manners,  his  manner  to  his  oppo 
nents  was  kindly,  his  treatment  generous,  unless 
provoked  by  unfairness,  chicane  or  some  species 
of  pettyfogging,  when  his  wit  and  sarcasm  were 
something  awful.  His  own  practice  and  conduct 
never  gave  occasion  for  complaint.  Witnesses, 
even  on  cross-examination,  were  always  treated 
with  considerate  kindness,  unless  he  suspected  a 
deviation  from  or  concealment  of  the  truth.  To 
the  court  always  respectful ;  and  such  was  his 
faculty  of  impressing  courts  that  they  differed 
from  him  reluctantly.  His  was  the  will-force  that 


88  B.  F.    WADE. 

sometimes  carried  juries  and  courts  because   he 
would  carry  them. 

An  instance  of  the  kindness  of  his  nature,  akin* 
to  weakness,  illustrates  the  manner  of  man  he  was. 
He  once  discovered  a  man  filling  his  bag  from  his 
corn  crib,  and  he  quietly  withdrew  to  save  the 
man  the  mortification  of  discovery.  He  mentioned 
the  incident ;  he  never  told  the  man's  name. 

His  wit  partook  of  the  character  of  his  intellect, 
incisive,  and  if  men  sometimes  winced  under  it, 
we  know  that  the  man  who  could  be  thus  tender 
of  the  feelings  of  a  thief,  could  not  intentionally 
wound.  Like  other  men  accustomed  to  wielding 
trenchant  weapons,  he  was  possibly  unaware  of  the 
effect  of  his  blows  and  thrusts. 

The  firm  of  Giddings  &  Wade  became  the  lead 
ing  law  association  of  their  immediate  neighbor 
hood,  when  under  the  changed  character  of  the 
business  habits  of  denser  population  and  the  con 
sequent  diversity  of  employment ;  by  the  opening 
of  channels  of  communication,  the  growth  of  lake 
marine,  the  causes  and  character  of  litigation 
changed  and  multiplied.  It  was  not  until  compar 
atively  recently  that  the  admiralty  laws  of  congress 
were  extended  to  the  great  lakes.  Their  want  in 
the  meantime  was  supplied  by  legislation  of  the 
state,  which  permitted  suits  for  supplies,  wages, 
claims  for  damages,  for  all  causes  of  action  against 
a  craft  by  name,  in  any  county  along  the  lake 
coast,  in  whose  waters  service  of  process  could 
be  made,  no  matter  where  or  by  whom  owned. 


B.  F.    WADE.  89 

Geauga  had  a  port.     Ashtabula  had  two.     There 
was   power  in  the  courts  to  change  the  venue   of 
marine  cases,  as  of  others.      Shipping   increased. 
Lake  Erie  was  stormy.     There  were  many  cases 
for  collisions,    especially    between    steamers    and 
sailers,  as  between  steam  vessels  or  sailers.    Many 
of  these  became  famous  cases.     They  paid   welL 
/In  the  autumn  of   1835,    Mr.    Wade  was  elected 
prosecuting  attorney  of  Ashtabula  county,  which 
office  he  held  for  its  term  of  two  years.    The  rules 
of  evidence  are  the  same  in  criminal  and   in   civil 
cases.      A  good  law  pleader  will  not  fail  in  his  in 
dictments.     Mr.   Wade  became  the  model  of  his 
successors.     The  so-called  criminal  laws  are  purely 
for  the  suppression  of  crime  by  penalties,  punish 
ments,    investigated  and  applied   by   the  courts. 
In  Ohio,  as  in  all  the  younger  states,  there  are  no 
so-called   common    law   offenses,   although  in  the 
administration  of  the  statutes,  the  common  law, 
its  cases  and  rules  are  in  constant  requisition.   The 
law-makers  alway  use  its  terms,   and  are  guided 
by  its  lights,  so  that  it  becomes  the  great  expo 
nent  of  their  labors.     The  criminal  law  lies   in  a 
nut   shell.        Any  good    commercial  lawyer    will 
master  its  specialties  in  a  short  time.      Criminal 
trials  have  attractions    for  many  young  lawyers, 
and  sparingly  indulged  in  may  be  of  service.    The 
defense  usually  consists  in  showing  the  inconclu 
sive  nature  of  the  case  made  by  the  state.     They 
give  scope  for  the  apt  advocate,   and  have  some 
thing  of  the  fascination  and  danger  of  the  gam- 


90  B.  F.    WADE. 

ing  house.  The  most  heinous  crimes  of  the  Re 
serve  were  then  horse-stealing  and  passing 
counterfeit  money. 

Wade  was  a  vigorous,  safe  and  popular  prose 
cutor  ;  relentless  where  he  was  satisfied  of  a  cul 
prit's  guilt.  He  put  no  others  on  trial.  The 
kindness  of  his  nature  ever  prompted  him  to  see 
that  convicts  were  as  leniently  dealt  with  as  the 
public  good  permitted.  I 

During  all  these  years,  as  all  the  preceding  years 
of  his  life,  the  still  young,  rising,  risen,  well-grown 
and  ever  growing  young  lawyer  was  the  most  pop 
ular  young  man  of  his  time,  and  widely  extended, 
ever-widening  circle.  A  democrat  in  life,  with 
the  frankest  manners — the  few  he  possessed — cor 
dial,  unpretending,  warm-hearted,  quick,  strong, 
fearless,  decisive,  magnetic  to  men,  the  most  virile 
of  men,  he  was  a  born  leader.  Men  admired, 
were  drawn  to,  and  followed  him.  Never  exact 
ing,  never  haughty,  never  imperious,  obtrusive  or 
overbearing ;  simple,  truthful,  considerate,  tender, 
a  doer  for  others  all  his  life,  in  no  way  a  self-seeker 
ever,  the  atmosphere  of  him  alway  true,  manly,  a 
hater  of  a  lie,  the  scorner  of  sham,  the  ridiculer 
of  effeminacy.  Young  men  were  drawn  to  him, 
became  his  students,  adopted  his  manner — it  often 
set  badly  on  them.  They  combed  their  hair  back 
over  their  heads.  Where  he  was  merely  frank  and 
abrupt,  they  became  coarse  and  rough  ;  where  he 
indulged  in  the  stronger  English,  they  became 
profane.  In  a  few  years  the  bar  of  northern  Ohio 


B.   F.    WADE.  91 

was  invaded  by  these  rude,  swearing  caricatures  of 
the  strong,  magnetic  man. 

His  influence,  save  in  the   matter  of  manners, 
was  wholly  good,   directly  in   the  line   of  honor, 
integrity,  manliness,   truth,  clean  living,  industry, 
and  thorough  mastery  of  the  law  for  the  student, 
enterprise    in    all    pursuits.       The    austerity,    the 
lurid   theology  of   the    Puritans,    drove  his   free, 
masculine  mind,  his  tender  nature,  to  open  revolt. 
The  reverence  of  his  self-poised  soul  remained ; 
was  ever  strong.     He  stepped   from  the    prison- 
house  of  bigotry  into  the  whiter  outside  light  and 
perfect  freedom  of  thought.     The  frankness  of  his 
nature  gave  utterance  to  his  impressions,  views, 
opinions.     Jefferson,  Ashtabula,  the  Western  Re 
serve,  were  orthodox.     The   revolt  had  begun  in 
New  England.     The  healthy  intellect  and  soul  of 
young  Wade  had  taken  the  new  spirit  into  the 
Ohio   woods.      It  found  its  own  utterance.      Not 
offensively  ;  he  was  not  a   propagandist  of  these 
ideas.      His  regard  for  the  feelings  of  others,  his 
memory  of  his  mother,  forbade  that.     These,  his 
skeptical   notions,  were   the   one   drawback  to  his 
immense   personal   popularity.      These,    too,    in 
fected    his  personal   followers.      Indeed,  so  many 
marks,  so  much  of  the  obvious  Wade,  were  borne 
about  by  them,  that  those  of  us  who  were  beyond 
the  outer  ring  of  his  growing]'circle  could^gener- 
ally  tell  one  of  them  in  five  minutes,  if  he  did  not 
sooner  proclaim  himself.     This   was  the  [estimate 
of  him  by  men.      I  have  enquired  by  letters  in 


92  B,  F.    WADE. 

vain  for  the  estimate  of  him  by  women.  Thus 
far,  the  form  of  no  woman  has  flitted  across 
the  field  of  vision.  He  had  much  to  win  the  re 
spect,  admiration  and  confidence  of  women.  I 
presume  that  he  did  not  seek  their  society.  So 
manly  a  man  must  have  been  anxious  for  their 
good  opinion.  Men  widely  differ  in  this  regard 
I  have  known  many  strong  men  to  whom  the  grace 
of  women  was  not  necessary.  Wade  may  have 
been  one  of  them.  I  may  secure  more  light. 

At  the  October  election  of  1837  Mr.  Wade  was 
elected  to  the  Ohio  senate.  In  1839  ne  was  placed 
in  nomination  again  for  the  senate  and  defeated. 
The  causes  were  peculiar.  In  1841  he  was  re- 
elected.  He  resigned,  but  was  elected  again  the 
ensuing  autumn.  I  shall  have  ample  occasion 
later  to  deal  with  the  politician  and  statesman, 
after  the  judge. 

The  firm  of  Giddings  &  Wade  was  dissolved  in 
the  spring  of  1837,  by  the  retirement  of  Mr.  Gid 
dings,  and  the  new  firm  of  Wade  &  Ranney  was 
formed.  Mr.  Ranney  had  been  a  student  of  the 
late  firm,  was  to  develop,  perhaps,  one  of  the 
best,  if  not  the  first,  legal  minds  of  the  state,  and 
take  rank  with  the  great  American  lawyers  and 
jurists. 

The  year  1837  saw  the  first  of  the  great,  wide 
spread  commercial  disasters  of  the  country,  and 
presented  a  new  test,  a  new  ordeal,  a  new  prob 
lem  for  the  American  people.  Its  causes,  though 
then  well  understood,  were  less  obvious  than,  with 


B.  F.    WADE.  93 

wider  induction  and  larger  experience,  they  appear 
to  us  now.  One  of  them  was  the  war  of  Andrew 
Jackson  on  the  old  United  States  bank,  the  re 
moval  of  the  public  monies  from  its  vaults  to  the 
seven  pet  state  banks  ;  the  over  issue  by  them  ; 
stimulated  by  him  ;  the  general  consequent  infla 
tion  of  bank  issues  ;  the  monstrous  growth  of 
credits  ;  the  wild  and  universal  epidemic  specula 
tion,  mainly  in  real  estate  ;  the  multiplication  of 
new  cities,  mostly  on  paper.  The  collapse  came 
of  course.  It  is  mentioned  here  because  the  late 
firm  of  Giddings  &  Wade  had  been  among  the 
speculators,  especially  in  the  city  and  water  lots 
of  the  Maumee — platted  for  cities  from  its  mouth 
to  Fort  Wayne.  The  firm,  the  individual  mem 
bers  and  many  friends,  became  bankrupt.  Wade 
made  large,  timely  sales,  but  they  were  caught. 
For  him,  as  for  his  younger  brother,  there  was  but 
one  way  of  escape — liquidation,  payment.  All 
the  large  earnings  for  years  were  henceforth  de 
voted  to  this,  a  sacred  purpose,  until  the  last 
dollar  was  honorably  extinguished.  Mr.  Wade 
had  to  become  thrifty  and  careful  of  expenditure. 
The  country  at  large  took  refuge  in  a  general 
bankrupt  law.  Two  have  been  enacted,  amended, 
carefully  administered  and  repealed  within  our 
time,  indicating  that  the  sense  of  the  American 
people,  enlightened  or  otherwise,  is  adverse  to  a 
bankrupt  law  as  an  institution  of  commerce.  How 
ever  that  may  be,  neither  member  of  the  old  firm, 


94  B.  F.    WADE. 

nor  did  the  younger  Wade,  think  of  shelter  in  the 
provisions  of  the  older  act. 

The  next  year,  1841,  witnessed  the  second  of 
the  most  important  events  of  the  life  of  B.  F. 
Wade.  It  would  be  quite  in  accord  with  the 
usages  of  personal  history  to  state  a  marriage  in 
parenthesis  or  a  foot  note.  These  papers  are  con 
structed  in  my  own  way.  This  thing  is  of  too 
much  importance  to  be  mentioned  at  the  end  of  a 
desultory  chapter. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

A  Freak  of  Fashion.— Old  Bachelor's  Romance.— Caroline  M.  Rosekrans. 
— Parentage. — Her  Mother's  Second  Marriage. — General  Parsons. — 
Henry  E.  Parsons. — Removal  to  Ashtabula. — Caroline  Meets  Frank 
Wade. — His  Speech. — Courtship  and  Campaign  of  1840. — Marriage. 
— Home  Life  at  Jefferson. — First  Meets  Fillmore. — Elected  Judge. — 
His  Circuit  and  Labors. — Contest  with  the  State  Supreme  Court. — 
Taxation  of  Costs. — Retires  from  the  Bench. — Action  of  the  Bar. 

FRANK  WADE  became  a  very  busy,  hard-work 
ing  man  before  1835.  In  the  latter  part  of  1834 
a  young  man  became  a  student  of  Giddings  & 
Wade,  attracted  by  the  fame  of  the  senior  of  the 
firm,  from  whom  I  learned  more  of  Mr.  Wade 
personally  at  that  interesting  time  of  his  life  than 
from  all  others.  During  his  novitiate  a  great 
change  appeared  in  the  dress  and  something  in 
the  manner  of  the  lawyer.  From  one  of  the  most 
careless  and  indifferent  in  the  matter  of  attire,  he 
became  one  of  the  most  careful  and  fastidious. 
The  gentleman  referred  to  had  rare  taste  in  mat 
ters  of  dress,  and  was  much  in  Mr.  Wade's  con 
fidence  in  the  things  of  coats,  cravats  and  shirt 
frills,  then  much  worn,  and  to  whom  the  lawyer 
presented  a  complete  outfit,  the  work  of  a  New 
York  tailor,  before  he  left  the  office.  Various 


96  B.  F.    WADE, 

were  the  speculations  as  to  the  cause  of  this 
change  in  the  tastes  and  dress  of  the  advocate. 
If  there  was  anything  special  it  never  transpired. 
It  was  the  impression  of  my  informant  that  some 
to  him  unknown  maiden  was  the  inspiration  of  it. 
So  far  as  known  he  distinguished  no  lady  by  ap 
proaching  her,  nor  did  he  seek  the  society  of 
women.  He  passed  his  thirty-seventh  birthday, 
if  not  untouched  at  least  in  safety.  Thirty-eight, 
thirty-nine,  forty,  and  yet  unmarried.  Not  thus 
solitary  was  his  life  to  remain. 

There  is  a  universal  delusion  that  love  romances 
are  the  special  events  attendant  on  actual  youthful- 
ness  of  years.  Youthfulness  may  be  necessary  to 
their  beautiful  existence.  It  is  the  youthfulnessof 
heart  and  spirit  often  perennial.  Old  poets  have 
sung  sweetest  of  love — old  men  have  written  some 
of  the  most  charming  of  romances.  There  is  in 
most  normally  structured  and  grown  men  and 
women  the  elements  and  tendencies  which  lead  to 
their  most  intimate  association.  Nature  knows 
what  she  is  about,  and  secures  her  own  purpose. 
Until  that  is  accomplished  in  the  individual,  and 
usually  till  the  birth  of  children,  the  spirit  and 
flavor  of  poetry  and  romance  linger  in  the  heart 
and  atmosphere  of  most  men  and  women.  Who 
ever  doubts  this  let  him  seek  the  confidence  of 
some  middle-aged  bachelor  or  spinster.  Even  in 
the  oldest  of  these  unmated  he  will  find  low  down 
in  the  heart  a  little  drop  of  condensed  sweet — a 
preserved  nectary,  though  the  flower  perished,  its 


B.  F.    WADE.  97 

petals  withered  in  the  long,  unblessed  past.  "  All 
the  world  loves  a  lover."  The  proverb  had  its  life 
in  this  law  of  the  human  race.  Art  compels  his 
appearance  in  song  and  story,  epic  and  novel. 
The  elements  of  romance  and  tenderness  were  as 
-strong  and  as  yet  unsunned  in  the  deep  nature 
•of  the  lawyer  at  forty  as  of  the  young  man  of 
twenty-five. 

Caroline  M.  Rosekrans  was  born  at  Lansing- 
burg,  New  York,  July  30,  1805.  Her  father, 
Depin  Rosekrans,  was  a  merchant  of  that  place, 
where  he  died  while  she  was  in  her  second  year. 
Her  mother,  a  daughter  of  Nehemiah  Hubbard, 
then  a  retired  merchant  and  banker  of  Middle- 
town,  Connecticut,  her  native  place,  returned  to 
that  city,  where  later  she  contracted  a  second 
marriage  with  Enoch  Parsons,  esq.,  a  son  of  revo 
lutionary  General  Parsons^  also  one  of  the  first 
territorial  judges  of  Ohio.  Of  this  marriage  a  son, 
Henry  E.  Parsons,  esq.,  was  the  issue.  The  new 
family  continued  to  live  in  Middletown  until  the 
younger  Parsons  removed  to  Ashtabula,  Ohio,  in 
1832,  where  he  still  resides.  His  mother  and 
Caroline  became  residents  there  in  1837. 

A  child  of  affluence  and  of  cultured  parents, 
Caroline  was  educated  with  as  much  care  and  at 
tention  as  were  at  the  beginning  of  the  century 
bestowed  upon  the  minds  of  the  fortunately  sur 
rounded  young  American  woman.  Nature  was 
kind  to  the  young  girl  in  the  bestowal  of  a  well- 
formed,  pleasing  person,  a  blonde,  attractive  face, 


98  £.  F.    WADE. 

vigorous  constitution,  and  a  mind  of  unusual 
strength  and  capacity.  The  education  she  re 
ceived  was  one  to  leave  the  person  to  develop  and 
mature  much  as  nature  intended,  healthfully  and 
in  just  proportions — a  fit  residence  for  a  mind 
which  for  its  grasp  and  intelligence  was  more  like- 
the  vigorous  reach  and  play  of  an  educated,  well- 
read  young  man,  than  of  the  thin-soled-shoe,  wasp- 
waisted,  pale,  simpering  girl  of  that  day.  Sex  is- 
not  a  garment  that  a  woman  can  throw  off  at  will 
— that  she  can  lose  or  be  parted  from.  She  may 
say  and  do  the  things  that  a  man  does  and  says. 
In  her  hands  and  mouth  they  are  womanly.  Sex: 
is  the  inseparable  character  and  quality  of  her 
heart,  soul,  intellect,  of  her  acts  and  speech,  as  of 
her  physical  form,  and  cannot  be  separated  from 
either.  Caroline  Rosekrans  grew  to  be  one  of 
the  most  womanly  of  women,  as  at  her  matu 
rity  one  of  the  most  attractive.  She  doubt 
less  had  her  fancies,  her  preferences  and  repug 
nances,  as  all  healthful  girls  do.  Not  a  prude, 
not  affecting  to  dislike  or  avoid  men.  Doubtless- 
she  sympathized  with  their  intellectual  labors, 
their  free,  robust  life.  She  early  became  a  great 
reader,  and  such  she  always  continued  to  be.. 
Not  a  reader  of  novels — of  them  but  sparingly, 
A  reader  of  histories,  of  biographies,  of  politics, 
newspapers — well-informed.  So  she  reached  her 
full  womanhood,  and  lived  on — growing,  developing 
mentally,  morally;  ripening  in  person,  extending 
her  acquaintances ;  living  cheerfully  an  active,  vig- 


B.  F.    WADE.  99 

orous,  womanly  life,  neither  pining  or  sighing  for 
any  possible  future,  cheerfully  awaiting  it,  what 
ever  it  might  be. 

Ashtabula,  at  the  time  of  the  arrival  of  Mrs. 
Parsons  and  Miss  Rosekrans,  was  one  of  the  most 
active  and  important  places  on  the  lake.  Nearly 
every  one  of  the  great  lake-going  steamers  called 
at  its  wharf — sometimes  half  a  dozen  in  a  day. 
The  lake  at  that  time  for  five  or  six  months  of  the 
year  was  the  sole  highway  for  the  immense  transit 
of  passengers  and  property.  Ashtabula  had  much 
of  wealth,  and  there  were  the  marked  beginnings 
of  class  distinction,  which  have  not  yet  been 
evolved  out  of  the  race  of  men. 

The  newly  arrived  were  a  real  accession  to  the 
place.  Mr.  Parsons  had  capital,  character  and 
business  capacity.  The  young  lady  had  marked 
character,  womanly  accomplishments,  and  a  rarely 
cultivated  mind.  She  had  no  position  to  attain. 
She  quietly  took  what  was  hers  of  right  and  by 
use. 

\  In  the  absence  of  certain  information,  it  is  easy 
to  fancy  how  the  first  meeting  of  Miss  Rosekrans 
and  Frank  Wade  came  about.  It  was  in  the 
kindling  of  the  fires  of  the  never  to  be  forgotten 
though  now  grossly  misrepresented  campaign  of 
1840,  which  was  in  the  first  months  of  that  mem 
orable  year.  Wade  was  quite  the  first  to  sound 
the  trumpet  call  to  arms  in  his  region,  and  was 
one  of  the  most  effective  and  popular  speakers  of 
the  state,  already  widely  known.  There  was  to 


ioo  B.  F.    WADE. 

be  a  meeting  at  Ashtabula,  at  which  he  was  to 
speak  upon  the  new  and  old  issues  of  the  shaping 
campaign,  hereafter  to  be  dealt  with.  Caroline 
had  heard  of  him.  The  Astabula  ladies  spoke 
of  him — an  interesting  puzzle  to  them.  No 
one  was  much  acquainted  with  him,  they  said. 
He  was  very  popular  with  men,  but  seemed  to 
care  nothing  for  ladies'  society.  Never  did.  Not 
only  a  bachelor,  he  was  "an  old  bachelor."  Had 
he  never  courted  a  girl — had  any  heart  history  ? 
No  one  had  ever  heard  of  such  a  thing.  No,  he 
did  not  like  women,  though  there  was  much  in 
him  to  interest  them.  It  is  not  at  all  likely  that 
the  healthful  fancy  of  Caroline  Rosekrans  was  in  the 
least  attracted  by  what  she  heard  of  him.  She  had 
doubtless  wondered  what  such  a  man  could  see  in 
the  average  pink-faced  girl  to  attract  him.  By  intel 
ligence,  temperament  and  association,  she  was  a 
Whig.  She  was  much  interested  in  the  popular 
rising  against  the  party  in  power.  She  went  with 
her  brother  to  the  meeting  to  hear  Mr.  Wade's 
speech.  She  never  had  heard  a  political  speech. 
As  usual  in  that  region,  at  that  day,  it  was  pre 
sided  over  by  a  New  England  "  moderator,"  who 
called  on  a  clergyman  to  open  it  with  prayer. 
Caroline  had  no  trouble  in  distinguishing  Mr. 
Wade,  and  while  this  was  going  on  she  noticed 
his  face,  and  at  the  first  did  not  very  well  like  it. 
Though  well-featured,  it  was  a  little  pinched  at  the 
temple,  but  the  head  was  good,  the  figure  as  he 
arose  manly,  the  attitude  striking.  He  at  once 


B.  F.    WADE.  10 1 

launched  himself  on  his  theme,  the  arraignment  of 
Mr.  Van  Buren's  administration  and  the  Demo 
cratic  party.  Strong,  bold,  sustained,  manly. 
After  he  closed,  Mr.  Parsons,  who  had  met  him, 
lingered  with  his  sister  at  the  exit  for  a  word  of 
congratulation.  He  presented  the  successful  ora 
tor,  still  aglow,  to  his  sister.  Mr.  Wade  had  sev 
eral  times  caught  her  handsome,  intelligent  inter 
ested  face  during  his  hour  and  a  half  of  a  speech 
— a  stranger  he  noted,  as  also  that  it  pleased  him. 
For  once  he  was  glad  to  be  presented  to  a  lady. 
They  had  a  few  pleasant  words,  and  he  carried  off, 
for  him,  an  unusual  impression  of  the  personal 
charm  of  a  woman's  presence.  Something  infin 
itely  sweet,  attractive,  delicious  in  this  fully  ma 
tured,  virginal,  womanly  woman.  They  were 
near  each  other  long  enough  for  Mr.  Parsons  to 
ask  him  to  call.  He  remained  in  town  over  night, 
as  much  of  the  ensuing  day,  and  did  call  ere  he 
returned  to  Jefferson^ 

Something  of  this  we  know  to  be  true.  The 
acquaintance  begun,  ran  on  during  the  summer, 
autumn  and  winter.  Wade  was  frank,  direct  and 
manly  in  his  wooing.  The  lady  was  greatly 
pleased  with  his  attentions  and  let  him  see  she 
was,  as  a  woman  might.  "  During  the  courtship 
he  came  often  to  see  her.  They  were  congenial 
spirits,"  is  the  statement  of  one  who  knew  all 
about  it.*  That  was  an  important,  an  interesting,, 
a  memorable  year  to  Mr.  Wade.  What  with  his 

*  Letter  of  Henry  E.  Parsons,  esq. 


102  B.  F.    WADE. 

prosecution  of  Mr.  Van  Buren  and  the  Democracy, 
his  attention  to  the  courts  of  law,  his  suit  to  Miss 
Rosekrans,  in  which  he  was  no  laggard  as  we  have 
seen,  it  was  a  busy  year  as  well.  They  were 
married,  May  19,  1841,  and  took  up  their  resi 
dence  in  Jefferson,  where  the  bride  of  that  far-off 
day  still  resides. 

All  marriages  worthy  the  name,  though  possi 
bly  less  to  a  man  than  to  a  woman,  are  of  the 
gravest  moment  to  him.  No  man  can  open  his 
heart,  his  life,  and  admit  another  life  into  it, 
become  a  part  of  it,  become  in  turn  a  part  of 
another  life,  without  great  and  important  conse 
quences  to  himself  and  others.  This  marriage 
was  exceptionally  fortunate,  happy — a  love 
marriage,  not  so  rare  as  is  supposed.  We  hear 
mostly  of  the  unfortunate  ones.  By  this  mar 
riage  were  born  two  sons— Lieutenant-Colonel 
James  F.  Wade,  in  1843,  and  Captain  Henry  P. 
Wade,  in  1845^ 

A  financial  disaster — a  panic  widespread  and 
general — always  precipitates  a  vast  volume  of 
credits  to  the  bottom  as  dead  debt,  to  be  got  rid 
of,  cancelled  or  buried  ere  business  can  revive, 
or  any  degree  of  prosperity  restored.  Generally 
the  revival  brings  forward  new  names,  a  new, 
younger  set  of  men,  new  commercial  houses.  The 
disasters  of  1837  were  not  repaired  save  by  a  lapse 

fBoth  were  appointed  to  the  regular  service,  as  soon  as  of  military 
age.  The  elder  is  with  his  regiment.  The  youngest  resigned  at  the 
«nd  of  the  war  and  is  now  a  farmer  in  Jefferson. 


B.  F.    WADE.  103 

of  many  years,  involving  the  overthrow  of  the 
Jackson  Locofoco — or  as  it  came  to  call  itself  the 
Democratic  party,  in  1840.^  The  Whig  tariffand 
other  measures  of  the  successful  party  had  much 
to  do  with  the  restoration  of  confidence,  the  crea-. 
tion  and  employment  of  new  capital. 

Lawyers  and  courts  were  busy  for  years  with  the 
fossil  remains  of  the  former  world.  Judgments 
innumerable,  followed  by  creditors'  bills,  to  un 
cover  properties  and  reach  equities.  There  was  a 
large  crop  of  cases.  Contrary  to  popular  impres 
sion,  the  legal  harvest  in  money  was  small.  The 
profession  fares  best  when  business  is  healthy. 
The  new  firm  had  its  full  share  of  this  unsatisfac 
tory  business,  procured  its  full  share  of  never  to  be 
satisfied  judgments.  Clerks  arid  sheriffs  are  paid 
before  lawyers.  They,  too,  performed  immense 
labors  never  to  be  compensated. 

With  the  new  men,  the  new  era,  came  new 
methods  of  business — the  old  commercial  rules  of 
the  older  communities  not  created,  but  recog 
nized  by  statutes  and  enforced  by  courts.  "  Truck 
and  dicker  "  made  way  for  cash.  Later,  the  Whig 
legislature  enacted  Alfred  Kelley's  bank  bill  ;  this 
and  later  a  new  tax  law,  and  Ohio,  her  canals 

£At  a  famous  meeting  in  Tammany  hall  to  determine  a  grave  and 
bitter  local  quarrel,  it  came  to  be  known  that  upon  a  given  con 
tingency  the  lights  would  be  turned  off,  and  each  man  of  the  other  side 
carried  with  him  a  box  oilocofoco  matches.  The  lights  were  turned  off 
and  thereupon  were  lit  a  thousand  of  the  sulphurous  pine  sticks. 
Hence  the  name  of  Locofoco  applied  to  the  prevailing  faction  speedily 
transferred  to  the  party  at  large  by  its  opponents. 


104  B.  F.    WADE. 

completed,  took  her  place  henceforth  with  the 
states  whose  industries  and  trades  were  organized 
in  accord  with  the  established  usages  of  the  mod 
ern  world,  to  remain  until  reorganized  without  re 
vulsion  under  the  quiet  revolution,  to  be  wrought 
in  the  near  future  by  railroads  and  the  telegraph. 
New  cases,  new  questions  arose  for  the  bar  and 
courts.  They  are  the  last  to  be  reached  in 
changes  by  new  processes.  Questions  and  con 
troversies  arise,  pass  the  stage  of  discussion  by 
the  parties,  their  correspondents  and  brokers, 
then  the  lawyers  are  called  in  and  they  take  them 
to  the  courts.  During  nearly  the  whole  of  the 
late  war,  the  supreme  court  of  the  United  States 
sat  serenely  adjudging  the  old  cases  involving  old 
well  established  rules,  in  contemplation  of  law, 
oblivious  of  the  new  and  awful  issues  discussed  and 
decided  in  the  red  forum  of  battle.  They  were 
there  settled  ere  the  momentous  constitutional 
and  legal  issues  springing  from  war  reached  it,  for 
which  there  were  no  rules,  no  precedents. 

With  the  revival  of  business  in  Ohio,  the  pro 
fession  and  practice  of  law  passed  a  new  phase. 
The  firm  of  Wade  &  Ranney  had  quite  the  lead 
in  Ashtabula.  The  rapid  rise  of  Mr.  Ranney  at 
the  bar  and  the  constant  calls  to  Trumbull,  were 
such  as  to  warrant,  require,  the  opening  of  an 
office  at  its  shiretown — Warren — now  a  flourish 
ing  city,  and  there  Mr.  Ranney  took  up  his  resi 
dence,  which  soon  brought  the  partners  to  the 
lead  in  that  wealthy  and  important  county  also. 


B.  F,    WADE.  105 

From  this  time  forward  there  were  few  important 
cases  in  the  two  counties  that  one  or  the  other  or 
both  were  not  engaged  in.  Mr.  Wade  had  occa 
sional  calls  to  Geauga,  Ravenna  and  Cleveland. 
It  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  Wade  &  Ranney 
hadfc  things  their  own  way,  even  in  their  own  coun 
ties^  Horace  Wilder,  Ned  Wade  and  Sherman 
were  in  Ashtabula;  Tod  Hoffman  &  Hutchins, 
the  Sutliffs,  John  Croweli  at  Warren  ;  Van  R. 
Humphrey,  Otis  &  Tilden  at  Ravenna;  R.  P. 
Spalding  and  L.  V.  Bierce  at  Akron  ;  Reuben 
Hitchcock,  E.  T.  Wilder,  Perkins  &  Osborn, 
and  Benjamin  Bissel  at  Painesville,  quite  their 
equals,  with  a  host  of  younger  men  coming  on  at 
the  bar,  without  mentioning  Cleveland.  It  has 
always  seemed  to  me  that  the  period  between  the 
formation  of  the  firm  of  Wade  &  Ranney  and  the 
election  of  Wade  to  the  bench,  was  one  of  a  very 
high  degree  of  excellence,  of  strength  and  learn, 
ing  of  the  bar  of  these  Reserve  counties.  Cleve 
land  then  had  H.  B.  Payne,  Andrews  before 
named,  Bolton  &  Kelley,  Backus  and  others,  and 
certainly  the  north  was  in  this  respect  the  equal 
of  any  part  of  Ohio.  The  practice  of  law  under 
the  guidance  of  the  bar,  with  occasional  judicious 
legislation,  also  at  their  hands,  so  far  as  procedure 
was  concerned,  was  very  well  perfected,  was  really 
a  useful,  expeditious  method  of  adjusting  the  dif. 
ferences  of  men.  The  courts  were  able  and  in 
dustrious,  and  nowhere  was  there  the  great  drift 
of  dead  wood  damming  up  the  administration  of 


io6  B.  F.    WADE. 

the  law,  and  damning  the  courts  and  bar  for  in 
equality  to  their  duties.  A  class  of  men  who  have 
the  entire  control  of  the  third  department  of  the 
government,  national  .and  state,  are  certainly  re 
sponsible  for  its  working  power  and  efficiency. 
That  it  is  now  absurdly  behind  the  other  two  is 
mainly  their  fault.  Let  them  be  held  to  account. 
It  must  have  been  at  about  the  commencement 
of  this  period  that  the  encounter  between  Frank 
Wade  and  Millard  Fillmore  occurred.  A  steamer 
owned  at  Buffalo  was  libelled — we  should  call  it 
now — under  the  Ohio  statute,  in  Ashtabula 
county,  for  running  down  a  sailing  vessel.  Fill- 
more  was  then  at  his  best,  learned,  able,  hand 
some,  elegant,  eloquent.  He  came  to  Jefferson 
with  the  owners  and  witnesses  to  find  out  the 
reason  of  the  detention.  There  he  met  the 
younger,  full-grown,  alert,  strong,  comparatively 
rough  Frank  Wade,  to  whom  he  was  no  more 
than  any  other  man.  Frank  had  never  been 
heard  of  at  Buffalo,  then  the  largest  city  of  the 
lakes.  He  had  the  advantage  of  the  home  forum. 
The  case  must  have  been  tried  before  Humphrey, 
an  able  judge  of  much  presence  and  dignity.  The 
case  was  important,  was  closely  contested,  and 
conducted  with  great  and  probably  fairly  matched 
ability.  The  Buffalonians  began  by  underrating 
the  leading  counsel  for  the  plaintiff.  The  trial 
attracted  much  attention,  and  the  Ohioans  felt  a 
special  pride  in  the  splendid  manner  in  which  their 
champion  met,  and  as  they  claimed,  overthrew 


B.  F.    WADE.  107 

the  eastern  knight  supposed  to  be  peerless.  Vic 
tory  declared  in  his  favor,  and  it  was  claimed  the 
strangers  retired  to  their  city  much  discomfited,  f 
It  is  the  habit  of  the  multitude  to  lose  sight  of 
the  real  issue  on  trial,  and  fix  their  gaze  on  the 
leading  counsel  and  regard  it  as  a  contest  between 
them  personally,  in  which  the  best  man  wins. 
There  is  less  difference  between  fairly  good  law 
yers  than  laymen  generally  suppose.  Something 
there  certainly  is  in  temperament  and  aptitude, 
dependent  upon  endowment.  One  man,  strong 
and  able,  a  master  of  his  case,  arises  seemingly  at 
a  distance  from  the  jury;  he  never  overcomes  it. 
He  is  strong,  logical,  convincing.  They  may  be 
constrained  to  find  for  him,  but  he  aroused  their 
combativeness,  arrayed  them  against  him.  An 
other  gets  up  within  the  charmed  circle  of  their 
sympathies,  addresses  them 'as  one  of  themselves. 
They  go  willingly  with  him.  They  may  be  com. 
pelled  to  return  an  adverse  verdict.  They  will  do 
it  reluctantly.  One  man  cannot  examine  a  wit 
ness  so  as  to  get  from  him  all  he  knows,  even 
when  he  is  anxious  to  tell  it.  Another  gets  it  all, 
and  more  too,  even  when  the  witness  wishes  to 
conceal  it.  Still  one  lawyer  can  do  about  as  much 
as  another,  and  one  good  lawyer  is  better  than 
five  equally  good.  There  is  seldom  room  for 
more  than  two.  It  is  a  mistake  to  increase  the 


fThe  late  Hon.  O.  P.  Brown,  a  student  in  Wade's  office,  was  my 
informant. 


io8  B,  F.    WADE. 

number.    In  the  courts,  safety  does  not  dwell  in  a 
multitude  of  counsel. 

And  so  the  years  ran  on.  The  state  grew  in 
population  and  wealth,  the  two  lawyers  in  business, 
fame  and  influence,  the  younger  going  on  to  his 
proper  place  at  the  head  of  the  bar  in  his  section, 
giving  their  time,  talents  and  best  labor  to  advise 
and  advance  the  material  interests  of  men  greatly 
their  inferiors.  This  was  their  business,  their 
profession,  having  few  or  no  material  interests  of 
their  own.  Wise,  sagacious  to  counsel  others, 
negligent  and  inefficient  in  the  management  of 
their  own  property  affairs.  So  the  years  bore 
them  on,  until  the  change  came  which  necessarily 
severed  their  association  and  the  senior  from  the 
bar.  /Ss  said,  the  state  of  Ohio  was  niggardly  in 
the  matter  of  compensation  in  its  public  service. 
The  salary  of  the  president-judges  of  the  common 
pleas  courts  reached  a  minimum  of  seven  hundred 
and  fifty  dollars  in  the  early  years  of  the  reign  of 
Wade  &  Ranney,  the  time  of  an  anti-lawyer  spasm. 
Here  and  there  a  fairly  good  lawyer,  who  wished 
to  retire  and  was  ambitious  to  sit  on  a  bench, 
accepted  office  under  it.  There  are  always  a  set 
of  legal  deadbeats,  who  hang  about  the  courts 
talking  of  other  men's  cases,  and  trying  the  triers 
allowable  of  neither  men  or  the  gods,  who  eagerly 
sought  places  on  the  bench.  The  act  reducing 
salaries  brought  it  within  their  hungry  reach. 
The  experiment  was  bad  every  way,  and  the 
good  sense,  or  the  better  sense  of  the  legislature 


B.   F.    WADE.  109 

removed  the  poor  demagogical  law,  and  placed 
the  judiciary  on  a  better  footing. 
£jn  February,  1847,  tne  legislature  of  Ohio 
elected  Mr.  Wade  president-judge  of-  the  third 
judicial  circuit,  then  composed  of  the  five  impor 
tant  counties  of  Ashtabula,  Trumbull,  Mahoning, 
Portage  and  Summit.__\That  was  the  second  year 
of  the  fateful  war  with  the  unfortunate  Mexicans, 
and  the  battle  of  Buena  Vista  was  fought  during  the 
same  February.  The  seed  once  sown  was  quick 
ening  in  the  greater  field  of  his  final  labors.  He 
was  still  unconsciously  preparing,  maturing  for 
the  work.  Patience  for  a  little  space.  The  time 
will  be  short.  Four  years  will  he  judge  his  peo 
ple  in  righteousness,  and  when  summoned  will 
then  be  surprised  as  now  by  this  call  to  the  judg 
ment  seat. 

\  The  counties  of  his  circuit  were  among  the 
most  populous,  wealthy  and  prosperous  of  the 
state.  Though  still  largely  agricultural,  they 
were  traversed  by  canals,  infant  cities  were  spring 
ing  up,  mines  were  opened,  and  various  extensive 
manufactories  were  coming  to  importance.  The 
new  justice  at  once  entered  upon  his  new  duties. 
He  was  greatly  needed.  There  was  a  large  arrear 
of  business  on  the  calendars.  In  the  five  counties 
collectively,  there  would  be  fifteen  terms  of  his 
court  during  each  year.  The  initial  days  of  the 
terms  were  fixed  by  statute.  Under  his  adminis 
tration,  the  last  day  in  a  given  county  was  the 
first  of  the  succeeding  in  the  next  shire.  • 


B.  F.    WADE. 

Fo  man  ever  reached  the  bench  better  equipped 
its  best  and  highest  duties  than  did  Mr. 
Wade.  He  was  of  good  age,  young  enough  to 
adapt  himself  readily  to  the  place,  a  mind  thor 
oughly  trained — had  acquired  the  legal  instinct — 
great  capacity  for  work,  an  even,  healthy,  good 
temper,  a  man  of  secure  popularity  with  the  peo 
ple,  admired,  loved,  profoundly  respected  by 
the  bar,  he  took  his  place  not  only  by  right  of 
unsought  election,  but  the  divine  right  of  fitness. 
Imbued  with  the  robust  spirit  of  the  common  law, 
his  native  love  of  right  and  justice  still  prevailed, 
and  his  knowledge  of  the  law  enabled  him  gener 
ally  to  secure  that,  so  strongly  entrenched  that 
his  judgments  were  rarely  disturbed. 

I  was  never  in  his  court.  I  was  for  the  four 
years  of  his  presiding  in  the  adjoining  circuit. 
Heard  of  him  constantly.  There  now  lie  before 
me  two  well-written  accounts  of  his  career  on  the 
bench  by  lawyers  who  practiced  before  him,  both 
of  whom  since  sat  on  the  bench  ;*  and  I  am  sur 
rounded  by  ample  information  from  various 
sources.  If  it  is  all  friendly,  and  from  apprecia 
tive  admirers,  it  is  to  be  said  that,  robust,  virile 
as  his  nature  was,  trenchant  as  were  the  blows  he 
dealt,  caustic  as  was  his  wit,  he  never  made  ene 
mies,  was  never  the  object  of  detraction.  The 
real  man  stood  so  palpably  before  all  men's  eyes 
that  whoever  spoke  of  him  praised  him,  and  often 
in  terms  that  seemed  laudatory  to  strangers. 

*  Hon.  Darius  Cadwell  and  Hon.  R.  F.  Paine. 


B.  F.    WADE.  in 

I  once  heard  an  educated  man — a  lawyer  and  a 
judge — a  man  of  fine  ability,  while  occupying  the 
place  of  presiding  judge  on  the  bench  in  Cleve 
land,  and  who  since  sat  on  the  bench  of  the  high 
est  court  of  another  state,  say  :  "I  never  sat  in 
the  trial  of  a  case  in  which  I  cared  two  cents  which 
side  gained  it."  This  was  a  mode  of  showing  his 
utter  indifference.  I  heard  it  with  amazement. 
He  fortified  himself  by  quoting  a  similar  declara 
tion  of  a  really  much  admired  judge,  well-known 
to  us  both. 

Mr.  Wade,  as  I  think,  was  not  that  sort  of  a 
judge.  He  saw  at  once  the  right  of  a  case.  No 
man  saw  the  moral  right,  when  involved,  quicker. 
He  was,  of  all  things,  loyal  to  the  law,  and  this, 
in  the  absence  of  a  controlling  moral  question, 
was  to  prevail.  It  is  generally  found,  when  a 
case  is  cleared  of  foreign  matter,  that  the  rule  of 
common  right,  when  involved,  and  the  rule  of  the 
common  law  coincide.  With  his  mastery  of  the 
law,  mastery  of  men,  he  usually  so  shaped  a  trial 
that  ultimately  the  right  prevailed.  The  Ameri 
can  judge  declines  to  deal  with  the  case  itself  in 
his  instructions  to  the  jury.  Wade's  ingenuity 
enabled  him,  by  the  aid  of  a  supposed  case,  to 
bring  the  real  issue  broadly  within  their  apprehen 
sion,  in  the  clear  light  of  its  right  and  wrong. 

It  was  useless  to  attempt  to  blind  him  with 
mere  technicalities.  He  usually  found  a  recog 
nized  legal  way  to  the  right.  Securely  indepen 
dent,  no  considerations  of  party  or  favor  to  per- 


112  B.  F.    WADE. 

sons  influenced  him  ;  nor  was  he  ever  suspected 
of  being  so  influenced.  We  have  heard  of  doc 
tors  who  never  lost  a  patient,  lawyers  who  never 
lost  a  case,  and  of  judges  never  reversed.  To  say 
that  a  judge  of  a  nisi prius  court,  in  the  multitude 
of  cases,  the  hurry  and  pressure  of  business,  never 
committed  an  error,  would  be  a  preposterous 
statement.  Of  Judge  Wade  this  is  quite  true. 
He  generally  gave  reasons  so  satisfactory  for  his 
conclusions  that,  as  a  rule,  his  decisions  were  ac 
quiesced  in.  No  judge  ever  put  himself  more 
unreservedly  on  the  record  than  did  he.  Of  the 
few  cases  taken  to  the  supreme  court  from  him, 
very  few  were  reversed.  As  a  rule,  he  was  there 
held  to  be  right.  A  notable  exception  may  be 
mentioned.  A  case  arose  before  him  of  consider 
able  difficulty.  He  gave  it  full  consideration  and 
decided  it.  It  was  taken  to  the  supreme  court 
and  there  reversed.  On  mandate  it  came  up  be 
fore  him.  He  disregarded  the  mandate  and  fol 
lowed  his  own  first  decision,  and  such  was  his 
judgment.  "  But,  your  honor,  the  supreme 
court  reversed  your  former  judgment !  "  exclaimed 
the  now  re-beaten  counsel.  "Yes,  so  I  have 
heard.  I  will  give  them  a  chance  to  get  right," 
was  the  quiet  reply.  It  was  again  taken  to  the 
supreme  court  and  re-presented  there,  and  this 
time  with  Judge  Wade's  reported  opinion.  On 
reconsideration  this  was  found  to  be  the  better 
rule.  The  court,  instead  of  attaching  him  for 
contempt,  reversed  itself  and  affirmed  his  last 


B.  F.    WADE.  113 

judgment.  This  must  be  the  one  unique  instance 
of  adherence  to  first  impressions  by  a  subordinate 
court  in  the  judicial  history  of  an  English  speak 
ing  people,  and  honorable  to  both  courts.* 

There  used  to  be  much  "  retaxing  of  cost  bills  " 
by  the  court,  bills  of  the  cost  in  cases  as  made  up 
by  the  clerk,  under  the  sometimes  obscure  stat 
utes,  often  of  no  little  difficulty.  Such  a  case 
before  him  may  be  mentioned,  as  more  illustrative 
of  his  character  as  a  man  than  of  his  learning, 
perhaps,  as  a  judge.  The  case  was  quite  fully 
presented  and  taken  under  consideration.  On  his 
return  at  the  ensuing  term  it  was  called  up,  talked 
over,  and  with  a  promise  to  "dispose  of  it"  at 
the  next,  the  third  term,  he  took  refuge  in  the 
causes  awaiting  him  in  the  next  county.  That 
the  third  term  lapsed,  he  was  closing  up  the  final 
session,  settling  exceptions  and  journal  entries 
(the  Yankee  lawyers  of  the  Reserve  of  that  day 
were  very  particular  about  these),  was  about  to 
order  adjournment  sine  die,  when  the  nervous 
counsel  ventured  to  remind  him  of  the  mooted 
matter  of  costs.  "  Mr.  clerk,  what  is  the  amount 

in  dispute?"    he   asked.      "  Nine  dollars  and 

cents,"  was  the  reply.      "I'll  pay  the thing,f" 

he  observed  as  to  himself,  throwing  a  ten-dollar 
bill  down  to  the  clerk  with  ' '  Enter  the  costs  sat- 

»  Judge  CadwilL 

f  If  the  curious  reader  should  fill  the  above  blank  with  an  English 
damned,  he  might  do  the  otherwise  model  judge  and  history  no 
injustice. 


114  B.  F.    WADE. 

isfied.  Mr.  sheriff,  adjourn  the  court  without 
day."  It  was  disposed  of. 

Judge  Wade's  industry  was  great ;  his  faculty 
for  the  dispatch  of  business  remarkable.  The  bar 
was  worked  to  its  fullest  capacity  by  him  ;  the 
over-heavy  calendars  were  brought  within  working 
compass,  and  the  shortening  years  ran  on. 

On  the  fifteenth  of  March,  1851,  while  presid 
ing  on  the  bench  at  Akron  (county  of  Summit),  a 
telegram  was  handed  him,  announcing  his  election 
to  the  senate  of  the  United  States  for  a  full  con 
stitutional  term.  He  read  it,  handed  it  down  to  a 
gentleman  of  the  bar  near  him,  and  went  on  with 
the  pending  trial,  as  if  no  unusual  thing  had 
occurred.  In  one  way  it  was  the  usual.  The 
position,  in  many  respects  the  most  honorable 
and  desirable  in  the  Republic,  came  unsought, 
unexpected.  The  unexpected  ruled  his  life  in  the 
matter  of  the  public  service.  He  was  aware  that 
his  name  had  been  mentioned  at  the  state  capital 
during  the  winter  in  connection  with  the  pending 
senatorial  election.  The  selection  of  himself, 
finally,  to  fill  the  august  place,  was  a  complete 
surprise. 

His  all  too  short  service  on  the  bench  was  now 
concluded.  Had  he  not  been  called  to  a  higher 
field,  we  should  greatly  regret  it ;  had  he  in  any 
way  failed  in  this  new  field,  we  should  deeply 
deplore  it.  He  had  the  making  of  a  great  judge. 
In  his  obedience  to  this  last  call,  the  administra 
tion  of  domestic  justice  suffered  a  loss  never  fully 


B.  F.    WADE.  115 

repaired.  While  the  state  lost  the  Republic, 
the  cause  of  broad  national  justice,  the  large  cause 
of  freedom  and  the  rights  of  men,  were  large 
gainers.  On  the  twenty-seventh  of  March  follow 
ing  his  election,  a  bar  meeting  was  called  at 
Akron  to  take  leave  of  Mr.  Wade  as  judge. 
Many  able  men  of  the  three  political  parties  were 
present,  and  several  from  points  remote.  The 
assemblage  was  large,  and  with  entire  unanimity 
adopted  the  following  as  their  sentiments  on  the 
occasion : 

Resolved,  That,  as  members  of  the  bar,  we  cannot  but  regret  the- 
departure  of  the  Hon.  B.  F.  Wade  from  his  position  as  president 
judge  of  the  Third  judicial  circuit,  a  position  he  has  maintained  with 
dignity,  courtesy,  impartiality  and  ability  in  the  highest  degree  cred 
itable  to  himself  and  the  common  public,  suitors,  and  improvement  of 
the  bar. 

Resolved,  That  we  congratulate  him  upon  his  election  to  the- 
highest  legislative  council  of  the  nation,  and  take  pleasure  in  express 
ing  our  confidence  that  he  will  discharge  the  functions  of  his  new  office 
with  the  same  extended  intelligence,  high  integrity  and  sound  judg 
ment  that  distinguished  him  upon  the  bench. 

From  the  Mahoning  Index  of  February  22, 
1850,  a  Democratic  organ,  edited  by  a  prominent 
Democratic  leader,  I  quote  the  opinion  of  a  hos 
tile  political  partisan  contained  in  a  single  para_ 
graph.  Speaking  of  Wade  while  presiding  in  the 
Mahoning  county  court  of  common  pleas,  he 
said: 

Our  court  of  common  pleas  has  been  in  session  since  the  twelfth, 
Hon.  B.  F.  Wade,  one  of  the  best,  if  not  the  best,  judge  for  the  peo 
ple  and  justice  in  the  state,  presiding  ;  a  man  of  superior  legal  attain 
ment,  and  one  that  the  bar  and  the  community  may  well  be  proud  of. 

These^,  papers  are  but  preliminary  to  the  large 


n6  B.  F.    WADE, 

work  before  us.  It  will  now  be  necessary  to  turn 
back  to  Mr.  Wade's  election  to  the  state  senate, 
make  brief  mention  of  service  there  and  before 
the  people  as  a  popular  political  teacher  and 
speaker,  and  also  make  a  rapid  survey  of  the  rise 
and  status  of  the  slave  power  at  the  time  of  his 
first  assault  upon  it  to  his  election  to  the  national 
senate,  from  which  time  his  personal  history  will 
be  drawn  against  its  gigantic  struggle  as  a  shifting 
background,  necessary  to  be  studied  with  some 
care  to  an  accurate  apprehension  of  his^  services 
and  character  as  a  senator  and  a  patriot.  ,- 


CHAPTER  V. 

Slavery. — Summerset's  Case. — Trade  in  Negroes. — Clarkson. — Wilber- 
force. — Slavery  abolished  by  the  Northern  States, — Judge  Taney's 
Words. — Slavery  not  before  Sectional.  —Fugitive  Slaves. — Quakers. — 
Maroons. — Change  of  Moral  Sentiment. — Louisiana  Admitted. — 
Missouri  Admitted. — Immediate  Emancipation. — The  North  stilj 
Pro-Slavery. — Charles  Hammond. — Theodore  Weld. — Lundy. — 
Garrison. — J.  G.  Birney.— J.  L.  Adams.— Ohio  Black  Laws. — Wade 
in  the  Ohio  Senate. — Kentucky  Commissioners  to  Ohio. — Tin  Pan. 
— Speech  on  the  Kentucky  Slave  Bill. — Gregory  Powers. — Defeated 
for  Re-election. — Re-elected  in  1841. 

ACCORDING  to  American  ideas  every  man,  and 
woman  as  well,  is  born  .a  politician.  If  the 
right  of  self-government  is  inherent,  the  right  to 
the  means  of  that  government,  though  artificial,  is 
a  natural  right ;  and  as  in  association  we  cannot 
govern  ourselves  without  governing  others,  gov 
ernment  among  Americans  imposes  mutual  and 
reciprocal  rights  and  duties.  Under  a  universal 
abstention  from  the  discharge  of  this  duty,  for  even 
a  short  period,  the  visible  government  would  perish. 
Any  neglect  of  this  duty  by  the  better  class,  which 
seemingly  is  becoming  onerous  to  many  of  it,  is 
attended  by  grave  mischiefs  to  the  public,  though 
the  government  goes  on  and  will,  however  derelict 
they  may  become.  There  is  nothing  men  so 


n8  B.  F.    WADE. 

cheerfully  undertake  as  the  government  of  their 
fellows,  curious  as  that  may  seem  to  the  thought 
ful.  We  saw  Mr.  Wade  elected  to  the  senate  of 
the  United  States,  but  advised  the  reader  there 
was  much  matter  to  take  account  of  before  we 
could  accompany  him  to  the  capital.  Something 
of  his  earlier  political  career,  also  a  rapid  sketch 
of  the  rise  and  progress  of  the  great  slavery  con 
test,  down  to  the  time  he  entered  upon  his  new 
duties.  These  labors  are  mainly  for  the  younger 
readers,  who  will  not  take  it  amiss  if  I  deliver  into 
their  easy  apprehension  an  outline  of  what  led  to 
one  of  the  great  epochs  of  human  history.  Many 
who  witnessed  the  earlier  and  less  important  inci 
dents  of  it  may  care  to  have  their  memories 
revived,  perhaps  corrected. 

If  a  relation,  an  institution  common  to  all 
nations  and  tribes  of  men,  is  to  be  classed  as  a 
natural  relation  or  institution,  then  is  slavery  of 
that  class.  It  is  a  law  of  man's  nature  that  he  can 
only  associate  with  men  and  brutes  by  finding  a 
plane  where  they  can  associate  in  common,  where, 
while  he  influences,  governs  them,  they  also  influ 
ence  him.  If  he  elevates  them  they  reduce  him, 
and  the  more  there  is  in  common  between  them, 
the  greater  is  their  influence  on  him.  A  horse 
exercises  great  influence  on  many  men,  a  slave  on 
many  more,  hence  the  institution  of  slavery  is  the 
most  hurtful  of  all  influences  upon  a  people.  The 
higher  forms  of  selfishness,  which  lead  men  to  pur 
sue  their  own  highest  good,  would  induce  a  people 


B.  F.   WADE.  119 

to  abolish  slavery,  eradicate  all  forms  of  vice,  and 
permit  the  fewest  possible  of  a  lower  class.  These 
considerations  are  too  broad  and  absolute  for  more 
than  mention.  They  range  with  the  higher  morals. 

"  Slavery,"  says  a  late  English  writer,*  "was  in 
England  never  abolished  by  law,  hence  Lord 
Mansfield's  decision  in  the  Somerset  case  (1772) 
was  without  legal  foundation."  This  is  a  misstate- 
ment.  Slavery  in  England,  at  that  time,  was  with 
out  legal  foundation,  and  hence  Somerset's  master 
could  not  hold  him  there.  At  common  law  men 
could  not  be  held  as  slaves  by  custom,  no  matter 
how  universal,  or  long  continued.  Hence  slaves 
escaping  beyond  the  reach  of  the  statute  which 
made  them  such,  to  free  territory,  were  free.  So 
we  ordained  constitutions  and  laws  for  their  return 
to  slavery. 

The  law  of  the  Somerset- case  did  not  reach  the 
English  colonies.  Some  of  these  were  taken  from 
Spain,  notably  Jamaica,  where  slavery  existed. 
In  others,  as  in  the  continental  colonies,  slavery 
was  planted  by  England  herself.  Sir  John  Haw 
kins,  as  is  said,  made  the  first  venture  in  this  com 
merce  in  1562,  bringing  a  well  assorted  cargo  of 
negroes  and  prayer  books.  Curiously  enough 
negro  slavery  was  introduced  into  Spanish  America 
by  the  good  Spanish  priest,  the  sympathetic  Las 
Casas,  to  save  the  more  tender  natives  from  servi 
tude,  under  which  they  sunk.  The  Portuguese 
were  the  first  traders  in  negroes  to  America,  in 

*  Dictionary  of  English  History-Slavery. 


120  B.  F.    WADE. 

which  all  the  western  Maritime  nations  had  a  share. 
England  finally  by  treaty  obtained  a  monopoly  of 
this  commerce  by  the  peace  of  Utrecht,  secured 
by  "  the  Assiento."  Ten  years  after  the  Somerset 
decision,  Clarkson,  Zachary  Macaulay,  father  of 
Thomas  Babington,  and  Wilberforce,  moved 
against  the  slave  trade.  Pitt's  aid  was  secured  in 
1792.  Effective  steps  were  not  taken  till  1805  and 
1806.  The  heaviest  blow  was  dealt  in  1807.  ^n 
181 1  to  deal  in  slaves  was  made  felony  and  piracy, 
punished  capitally  in  1824. 

The  English  colonies  politically,  legally,  morally 
and  religiously,  were  a  unit  in  the  matter  of  negro 
slavery.  Its  oponents  few,  and  had  no  hearing. 
Massachusetts  enslaved  Indians.  Down  to  1776, 
it  is  estimated  that  300,000  native  Africans  had 
been  imported  into  the  Anglo-American  colonies. 
The  census  of  1790,  showed  the  number  of  slaves 
to  be  698,000.  In  1800  the  slaves  had  increased 
to  within  a  small  fraction  of  900,000.  There  were 
1,100,000  in  1810;  1,538,000  in  1820;  in  1830, 
2,000,000;  in  1840,  2,400,000.  They  had  in 
creased  to  3, 200, ooo  in  1850;  in  1860,  to- 3,952,000, 
their  last  enumeration.  After  the  Revolution 
some  of  the  southern  states  abolished  the  foreign 
slave  trade,  while  it  was  maintained  at  the  north. 
Vermont  was  the  first  to  abolish  slavery,  which 
she  did  in  1777.  Pennsylvania  by  gradual  eman- 
pation  in  1780,  of  her  slaves  64  remained  in  1840. 
A  judgment  of  the  supreme  court  ended  the  insti 
tution  in  Massachusetts,  in  1780.  Rhode  Island 


B.  F.    WADE.  121 

had  five  slaves  in  1840,  Connecticut  had  17  at  that 
date.  New  York,  which  had  20,000  in  1799,  the 
date  of  her  emancipation  act,  freed  the  last  on  the 
fourth  of  July,  1827.  New  Jersey  also  pursued 
the  gradual  process  and  had  236  in  1850. 

The  Revolutionary  patriots  declared  all  men 
born  free,  and  tacitly  held  negroes  not  men,  and 
so  not  within  its  meaning  and  spirit.  It  was  of  this 
quite  universal  sentiment  of  the  Revolutionary 
period,  that  Chief-Justice  Taney,  in  the  Dred  Scott 
case,  truly  said:  "At  that  time  it  was  generally 
held  that  negroes  had  no  rights  that  white  men 
were  bound  to  respect* 

The  national  constitution  recognized  slaves 
under  the  euphuism  of  "persons  held  to  service 
in  a  state  under  the  laws  thereof,"  and  pledged 
the  states  to  their  return  if  they  fled  from  it,  as  so 
many  did.~|" 

For  the  purpose  of  representation  in  the  national 
house  of  representatives,  five  persons  thus  held 
were  counted  as  three,  and  congress  was  prohib 
ited  from  legislating  against  the  African  slave 

*  Nothing  better  shows  the  spirit  of  the  slavery  contest,  when  that 
unfortunate  case  was  decided  and  since,  than  the  fact  that  this  senti 
ment,  excusable,  perhaps,  in  1776,  but  atrocious  in  1857,  attributed  by 
one  of  the  ablest  and  purest  of  American  judges  to  the  men  of  the  pre 
ceding  century,  were  popularly  accepted,  charged  upon  him,  as  his 
sentiments,  his  judgment  of  the  black  man's  true  status,  on  the  day  of 
its  declaration.  The  old  man  died  with  this  imputation  strong  upon  his 
name  and  memory,  and  good  men  died  believing  it  true. 

"t*  It  was  estimated  that  at  least  thirty  thousand  thus  held  reached 
and  found  shelter  in  Canada  alone,  where  no  fugitive  law  or  rendition 
treaty  could  exist. 


122  B.  F.  WADE. 

trade  for  twenty  years.  July  of  the  year  of  the 
production  of  this  national  instrument  (signed 
September  17)  saw  the  promulgation  of  "the  or 
dinance  of  '87"  (1787)  which  dedicated  the  great 
unknown  northwest  to  freedom.  J 

So  stood  this  thing  of  slavery  when  the  young 
states  and  younger  nation,  under  its  charter,  en 
tered  upon  their  interesting  career,  unconsciously 
to  be  wrought  upon  by  the  ever  active  unseen 
laws  of  evolution,  which  mould  politics,  govern 
ment,  morals,  and  religion,  as  all  organic  and 
ignoranic  matter. 

At  that  time  slavery  was  no  way  sectional. 
Thoughtful  men  in  common  everywhere  vaguely 
regarded  it  as  evil,  temporary  to  be  sure,  and  at 
some  time  in  some  way  to  be  made  rid  of.  We 
have  seen  the  northern  states  dispose  of  it  for 
themselves,  also  that  some  of  the  southern  had 
put  an  end  to  the  African  slave  trade,  and  we 
know  that  Mr.  Jefferson  and  many  leading  south 
ern  men  favored  not  only  the  ordinance  of  '87, 
but  emancipation  in  their  own  states.  The  utter 
incompatibility  of  slavery  with  the  institutions  of 
a  free  people,  resting  on  the  declared  equality  of 
men  by  birth,  so  shocking  to  our  logical  sense 
now,  was  not  then  apparent.  Men  were  too 
pressingly  engaged  with  the  devouring  necessities 
confronting  them  on  every  hand,  to  study  and 
speculate  of  the  less  obvious  and  seemingly  remote 

I  The  authority  of  which  was  called  in  question  in  the  Dred  Scott 
case,  the  power  to  pass  it  by  congress. 


B.  F.    WADE.  123 

dangers,  then  not  deemed  possible.  There  was  a 
continent  to  subdue ;  many  robust,  strong,  free 
peoples  to  be  made  homogeneous,  educated,  gov 
erned  ;  Indians  to  be  dealt  with ;  foreign  nations 
to  be  treated  with,  fought  with  ;  cities  to  be  built, 
rivers  to  be  navigated,  ways  to  be  opened,  com 
merce  to  be  created — a  thousand  pressing  things 
to  be  done.  Slavery  was  a  seeming  means,  a 
help,  and  not  a  bale.  So  things  went  their  blind 
unconscious  ways,  as  they  always  do.  Slavery 
became  sectional.  Slaveholders  were  homoge 
neous.  It  became  their  bond  of  union.  Long 
before  the  north  was  aware  of  its  dominating 
power,  even  at  the  south  it  had  consolidated 
that  and  became  dictator.  The  great  parties  at 
the  north  were  compelled  to  bid  against  each  other 
for  its  aid.  The  way  for  it  there  was  already  pre 
pared.  The  sentiment  of  £he  north  was  pro- 
slavery — always  had  been.  Its  conscience  slept, 
had  never  been  developed  toward  this  thing. 
When  that  came  to  life,  to  seeing,  and  assailed 
slavery,  on  its  hitherto  most  indefensible  side,  it 
had  become  too  profitable  to  part  with,  too  power 
ful  to  be  easily  overthrown.  It  was  the  foundation 
and  controlling  element  of  southern  civilization 
and  industry.  It  needed  but  one  thing  more  to 
become  seemingly  invulnerable — to  be  accepted 
as  right  in  itself,  approved  of  God,  sustained  by 
the  Bible,  accepted  of  his  prophets  and  the  patri 
archs.  The  greatest  work  of  slavery  propagan 
dists  was  in  fashioning  the  southern  conscience 


124  B.  F.    WADE. 

and  church  to  this  view.  Enmeshed  as  it  was  in 
the  constitution,  constituting  their  property,  their 
life,  hope,  memory  and  aspiration,  this  task  was 
feasible,  and  in  a  few  years  effectively  done. 
Rapidly  and  certainly  with  the  accomplishment 
of  this  process,  the  north  was  also  necessarily  con 
solidated.  Its  morals,  its  conscience,  its  political 
necessities,  united  it.  Slavery,  itself  a  .state  of 
chronic  war,  is  by  necessity  aggressive,  bold  and 
unscrupulous.  Its  enemy  necessarily  the  north. 
It  can  live  only  by  plunder  and  outrage.  As  long 
as  the  north  aided  or  acquiesced  in  its  aggressions 
upon  other  people,  semi-peace  ruled  the  sections ; 
when  it  felt  compelled  to  plunder  the  north,  war 
was  inevitable,  and  the  more  so  as  each  party 
would  conscientiously  believe  it  was  right. 

Some  of  the  more  prominent  incidents  scenes 
and  acts  of  the  opening  of  the  great  drama,  are 
to  be  mentioned. 

In  good  faith  to  their  national  undertaking,  the 
northern  states  passed  laws  for  the  rendition  of 
escaping  slaves.  Slavery  has  been  declared  by 
able  southern  courts,  a  state  of  chronic  war  by  the 
masters  upon  their  slaves — a  not  modern  doctrine 
— and  thus  the  northern  people  became  the  active 
allies  of  the  masters  in  their  war  upon  their  bond 
men.  These  state  laws  were  not  satisfactory  to 
the  south,  however,  and  in  less  than  four  years 
after  the  adoption  of  the  constitution,  and  seven 
teen  after  the  great  Declaration,  congress  passed 
the  first  fugitiv.e  slave  law — the  first  national  depar- 


A   F.    WADE.  125 

ture  from  its  preamble  and  bill  of  rights.  This  was 
followed  sooner  or  later  in  many  of  the  northern 
states  by  laws  repressive  of  the  rights  of  free 
blacks,  glaringly  by  the  state  of  Ohio,  the  first 
blossom  of  the  ordinance  of  '87. 

Ere  the  passage  of  the  fugitive  law,  the  Quakers 
of  North  Carolina  emancipated  their  slaves,  which 
the  state  speedily  reduced  again  to  servitude. 
Slaves  escaped  in  large  numbers  from  Georgia 
masters  to  the  Creeks,  within  the  state  borders. 
When  the  Creeks  were  threatened  with  war  on 
their  account,  they  fled  to  Florida,  becoming 
Maroons  (as  the  Spaniards  of  the  West  India 
islands  called  their  runaway  slaves,  who  main 
tained  themselves  in  the  mountains),  where  unit 
ing  with  runaway  Indians  (Seminoles),  they  sus 
tained  years  of  war  to  avoid  recapture,  first  in 
1818  and  in  the  times  of  Jackson  and  Van  Buren. 
In  1800  congress  reestablished  the  slave  code  in 
the  national  capital.  In  1803  the  settlers  of  Indi 
ana  asked  for  a  suspension  of  the  ordinance  of  '78, 
to  enable  them  to  hold  slaves.  That  year  we 
purchased  Louisiana,  to  become  a  slave  empire, 
its  far-reaching  influences,  a  great  factor  in  the 
destruction  of  slavery  itself.  In  1805  a  proposi 
tion  that  the  children  of  slaves  born  in  the  District 
of  Columbia  after  that  date,  should  be  free,  was 
rejected  by  congress. 

In  1806  we  broke  off  commercial  relations  with 
San  Domingo,  where  black  slaves  were  in  arms  for 
freedom,  having  just  closed  a  war  with  Barbary  to 


126  B.  F.    WADE. 


free  white  slaves.  In  iSio-y  Georgia  sent  an 
army  to  Florida,  a  Spanish  province,  to  capture 
the  Maroons,  who,  combining  with  the  Seminoles, 
drove  them  out.  Georgia  seized  the  afterward 
infamous  Amelia  Island,  which  from  that  time  be 
came  the  headquarters  of  African  slave  traders 
and  other  more  honest  pirates.  Meantime  we 
had  abolished  the  foreign  slave  trade,  and  largely 
in  the  interest  of  the  home  producers  of  slaves,  as 
it  proved,  a  curious  application  of  the  doctrine  of 
protection  of  home  industry. 

Slavery  becoming  economically  profitable,  men 
began  to  find  it  less  immoral.  The  trade  in  slaves 
at  the  capital  became  so  flagrant  that  John  Ran 
dolph  pronounced  a  phillipic  against  it  on  the 
floor  of  the  house,  in  1816.  The  year  1818  saw 
the  first  Seminole  war,  in  which  old  Fort  Nichols, 
where  the  fugitives  found  shelter,  wras  blown  up 
with  hot  shot  fired  into  its  magazine,  and  a  few 
of  the  survivors  were  delivered  to  our  Indian 
allies  for  their  amusement,  after  known  methods, 
a  costly  entertainment  as  negroes  went.  After 
two  severe  battles  General  Jackson  retired  with 
doubtful  honors  and  small  profit.  Georgia  then 
clamored  for  the  acquisition  of  Florida  itself. 

The  first  contest  over  the  admission  of  a  state 
occurred  in  1811,  on  the  application  of  Louisiana. 
The  opposition  was  violent  and  bitter  on  the  part 
of  some  of  the  New  England  men,  not  so  much  on 
account  of  its  characteristic  slavery  as  that  it  was  a 


B.  F.    WADE.  127 

form  of  foreign  territory — had  been  a  foreign  pos 
session.* 

This  contest  excited  little  popular  interest.  Mis 
souri  applied  six  years  later.  Her  case  came  up 
in  December,  1818,  and  lasted  for  two  years. 
The  first  great  trial  of  the  bands  of  the  Union. 
Sudden  and  almost  inexplicable  was  the  deep,  far- 
reaching  excitement  it  caused,  ending  in  the 
famous  compromise  of  1820,  and  followed  by  a 
calm,  a  profound  apathy,  as  mysterious.  This 
rise,  long  continued,  furious  war,  and  its  sudden 
subsidence,  are  still  a  problem  of  our  political  his 
tory.  In  this,  slavery  itself  was  the  sole  cause. 
The  first  battle  was  on  Mr.  Talmage's  (from  New 
York)  amendment,  prohibiting  the  further  intro 
duction  of  slaves,  and  securing  the  freedom  of  all 
slave  children  after  a  named  date  ;  it  passed  both 
houses.  At  the  next  session  Maine  and  Missouri 
both  sought  admission.  They  thus  became 
united,  remote  as  they  were  geographically,  in  the 
interests  and  genius  of  their  peoples  ;  in  the  all- 
embracing  arms  of  slavery.  The  contest  was  re 
newed  with  more  than  the  first  heat.  Mr.  Clay, 
though  speaker  of  the  house,  became  the  pro- 
slavery  leader  of  the  floor.  The  house  would  not 
admit  the  two  together  ;  and  Maine  was  uncon- 

*  Josiah  Quincy  of  Massachusetts,  a  remarkably  able  man,  took  the 
ground  that  the  admission  of  a  foreign  possession  and  people  was  a 
virtual  dissolution  of  the  Union  and  threatened  to  give  this  effect  to  it 
if  persisted  in.  So  the  hrst  threat  of  dissolution  came  from  Massa 
chusetts.  The  same  objection  was  urged  with  much  force  against 
Texas  later. 


128  B.  F.   WADE. 

ditionally  received  in  March,  1820.  An  enabling 
act  containing  the  famous  dedication  of  all  the 
Louisiana  purchase  north  of  thirty-six  degrees 
thirty  minutes,  was  passed  for  Missouri.  Angry 
and  resentful,  her  people  complied,  but  inserted 
also  a  provision  against  free  negroes.  When  this 
constitution  came  up  in  congress  battle  royal  en 
sued,  with  more  than  the  former  heat  and  venom. 
Twice  the  house  rejected  the  constitution  with  this 
obnoxious  provision.  During  the  struggle  the 
Maine  senators,  Holms  and  Chandler,  voted  stead 
ily  with  the  south.  Finally  a  second  compromise 
was  secured,  by  which  the  Missouri  legislature 
were  forever  prohibited  from  giving  effect  to  the 
obnoxious  provision.  She  was  admitted,  and  this 
startling  and  ominous  episode,  as  it  was  regarded, 
and  the  spirits  it  conjured,  passed  into  speedy  for- 
getfulness.  Stephen  A.  Douglas  was  then  but 
seven  years  old.  His  voice  was  to  recall  these 
spirits,  the  Kansas  border  war — the  prelusive 
skirmishing  of  the  real  war,  which  was  in  the  full 
ness  of  time  to  follow — coming  out  of  the  great 
compromise. 

The  next  step  was  the  purchase  of  Florida,  in 
1821,  and,  notwithstanding  the  provisions  of  the 
treaty  with  Spain  for  their  protection,  an  intermin 
able  war  was  begun  to  reduce  the  Maroons,  their 
wives  and  children  to  slavery.  In  1826  came  the 
second  great  discussion  of  slavery  in  congress,  on 
a  proposition  to  send  commissioners  to  the  new 
southern  republics,  who  had  abolished  slavery. 


B.  F.    WADE.  129 

The  south  feared  for  the  institutions  in  Cuba  and 
Porto  Rico,  and  the  remote  consequences  to  them 
selves.  The  next  year  saw  the  debate  on  the  long 
pending  controversy  with  England,  for  the  slaves 
deported  by  her  in  the  war  of  1812.  The  question 
was  finally  referred  to  the  Emperor  of  Russia,  who 
good-naturedly  awarded  that  England  should  pay 
the  United  States  one  million  two  hundred  thou 
sand  dollars.* 

We  have  glanced  at  the  institution  under  En 
glish  dominion.  Long  before  any  agitation  for 
emancipation  in  this  country,  Elizabeth  Heyrick, 
a  Quaker  lady,  published  an  important  work  in 
England  entitled,  '  Immediate  and  not  Gradual 
Abolition, 'f  which  finally  produced  a  profound 
impression  there,  and  led  to  a  change  of  views  and 
action  on  the  part  of  English  abolitionists.  Such 
advance  had  then  been  made  that  upon  the  as 
sembling  of  the  reform  parliament  of  1832,  the 
government  announced  its  determination  to  bring 
in  a  bill  for  the  emancipation  of  the  slaves.  The 
abolitionists  demanded  immediate  emancipation. 
In  1833  a  bill  was  passed  abolishing  slavery  and 
providing  for  an  apprenticeship  of  the  slaves. 

*  After  paying  all  the  claimants  for  the  thus  stolen  slaves,  there  re 
mained  about  one  hundred  and  forty-one  thousand  dollars.  Toward 
the  end  of  the  Jacksonian  reign  this  was  quietly  paid  to  Georgia 
masters,  to  compensate  for  the  children  the  slave  mothers  would  have 
borne  them  had  not  the  faithless  things  run  off  with  the  Indians  !  How 
that  was  divided,  or  by  what  rule,  I  never  knew. 

i"  Immediate  abolition  has  recently  been  deemed  as  the  discovery 
of  the  late  William  L.  Garrison,  who  is  said  also  to  have  discovered 
Whittier,  the  poet.  '  His  Life,'  by  his  sons,  Vol.  I. 


130  B.  F.    WADE. 

This  was  disregarded  by  the  masters  in  Jamaica, 
followed  by  a  bloody  insurrection  in  that  land  of 
slave  insurrections,  in  which  thousands  were  slain, 
when  parliament  abolished  the  apprenticeship  and 
slavery  disappeared  August  25,  1838,  in  all  the 
British  dominions. 

Things  in  this  connection  happened  in  the 
United  States  the  year  following,  which  recalls 
our  attention  to  our  seemingly  forgotten  immedi 
ate  personage  who  now  takes,  if  a  brief,  an 
important  part,  his  first,  in  the  incipient  contest 
on  this  continent.  With  a  pro-slavery  sentiment 
pervasive  through  the  north,  slavery  bold,  arro 
gant,  aggressive,  had,  as  we  see,  then  made  large 
gains,  rapid  advance  toward  unquestioned  suprem 
acy  in  the  so-called  free  republic.  The  open 
opposers  of  slavery  were  slow  to  appear,  won  few, 
and  at  the  first  unheeded,  north  and  south.  Sev 
eral  books  had  been  published  against  it.  Anti- 
slavery  societies  had  long  existed.  Between  1820 
and  1830  several  anti-slavery  papers  were  pub 
lished,  notably  by  Benjamin  Lundy  in  Ohio,, 
and  Baltimore,  Maryland.  In  this  last  William 
Lloyd  Garrison  served  his  apprenticeship  in  his 
press  room  as  in  prison,  and  then  went  to  Boston 
where  he  planted  the  Liberator.  Hammond,  in 
the  Cincinnati  Gazette,  produced  a  series  of  strong 
articles  against  slavery.  Theodore  Weld  had 
caused  a  secession  of  students  from  the  Lane 
seminary,  on  anti-slavery  grounds,  and  had 
lectured  through  the  north,  then  a  very  young 


B.  F.    WADE.  131 

man  of  remarkable  powers.  James  G.  Birney 
had  arisen  in  Kentucky  and  gone  north,  a  man  of 
rare  gifts  and  marked  character.  The  American 
anti-slavery  society  had  been  organized  and  dis 
rupted  for  difference  of  opinion  as  to  whether,  in 
a  matter  largely  political,  political  action  should  be 
had.  In  1831  John  Quincy  Adams  took  his  seat 
in  congress  and  was  soon  in  open  war  against 
slavery,  on  the  narrow  and  seemingly  remote  issue 
of  the  right  of  petition,  logical  only  because  the 
illy  advised  slaveholders  elected  that  issue.  Mr. 
Adams  was  at  the  beginning  no  abolitionist, 
might  never  have  become  one  had  not  the  war 
made  by  them  on  the  right  of  petition  compelled 
him  to  be  one,  born  warrior  that  he  was.  He 
alway  opposed  the  abolition  of  slavery  in  the 
District  of  Columbia  until  it  should  disappear  in 
Maryland  and  Virginia.  That  same  year  occurred 
Nat.  Turner's  bloody  insurrection  in  South  Hamp 
ton,  Virginia,  followed  by  many  pro-slavery  riots 
at  the  north.  Indeed,  to  begin  with,  the  entire 
north  had  to  be  first  conquered  from  slavery  to 
freedom.  The  conquest,  in  fact,  never  was  com 
pleted  while  slavery  anywhere  existed,  and  it  left 
many  mourners  there,  over  what,  to  them,  seemed 
its  untimely  demise. 

We  have  noted  the  early  action  of  the  Ohio 
legislature  in  favor  of  slavery.  This  was  followed 
by  various  acts  which  together  came  to  be  called 
the  black  laws.* 

*The  first  act  was  in  1804.  This  required  every  black  or  mulatto,  before 


132  B.  F.   WADE. 

These  together,  the  shame  and  reproach  of  the 
young  state,  were  not  satisfactory  to  Kentucky 
and  Virginia,  the  south.  There  was  the  memory 
of  South  Hampton,  the  recent  bloody  insurrections 
of  Jamaica  and  Demarara.  England  had  abolished 
slavery  in  all  her  dominions,  and  notwithstanding 
actual  murder,  bloody  riots,  and  burnings  at  the 
north,  an  anti-slavery  sentiment  was  increasing 
there.  The  slave  trade  had  actually  been  pre 
sented  by  a  grand  jury  of  the  District  of  Columbia. 
Ohio  was  now  in  the  hands  of  the  Democrats,  and 
she  at  least  should  be  asked  for  additional  safe 
guards  and  pledges.  She  was  asked  for  them,  and 
the  most  humiliating  incident  of  her  history  is  to 
here  find  brief  mention.  She  readily  rendered 

he  could  reside  in  the  state,  to  file  with  the  clerk  of  the  county  of  his 
intended  abode  a  certificate  of  a  court  of  record  of  the  state  whence  he 
•came,  that  he  was  free.  This  act  also  authorized  claimants  of  runaway 
slaves  to  make  summary  proof  before  any  judge  or  justice  of  the  peace 
that  a  named  person  was  an  escaping  slave,  when  a  warrant  was  to 
issue  to  the  sheriff  of  the  county,  who  was  to  sieze  and  deliver  him  up 
to  the  claimant,  to  be  returned.  First  Chase  s  Statutes  j6j.  Two 
years  later  this  was  supplemented  by  an  act  requiring  all  colored  per 
sons,  before  they  could  be  permitted  to  remain  in  the  state,  to  give  a 
bond  with  two  good  sureties,  conditional  for  their  good  behavior,  and 
that  they  should  be  maintained,  with  stringent  provisions  against 
harboring  fugitives.  There  was  a  section  making  blacks  and  mulattoes 
incompetent  as  witnesses  in  any  case,  civil  or  criminal,  where  a  white 
person  was  a  party.  Chase  Id.  555.  To  the  credit  of  the  supreme 
court  of  Ohio,  it  should  be  stated  that  it  held  all  persons  with  more 
white  than  black  blood,  white  for  all  purposes,  4  O.  R.  353,  n  Id. 
372,  12  Id.  237,  Wright  578.  All  blacks  were  excluded  from  the 
public  schools  by  act  of  1831,  3  Chase  Id.  p.  1872  ;  they  were  pre 
cluded  from  lawfully  becoming  paupers  by  act  of  the  same  year,  Id. 
p.  1832. 


B,  F.   WADE.  133. 

what  was  asked  of  her.  Mr.  Wade  was  of  the 
young  Whig  party,  f 

\  In  the  fall  of  1837,  as  stated,  he  was  elected  to 
the  Ohio  senate  by  the  Whigs,  nominated  without 
his  knowledge  or  consent.  He  was  then,  as  will 
be  remembered,  thirty-seven  years  old.  The  state 
was  temporarily  largely  Democratic,  both  houses 
of  the  "  General  Assembly  "  overwhelmingly  so. 
Though  one  of  the  youngest  members,  he  was  at 
once  placed  on  the  judiciary  committee,  then  the 
most  important  committee  of  the  senate.  At  that 
time  divorces  were  obtained  by  legislative  action. 
A  report  of  Mr.  Wade's  on  this  subject  put  an 
end  to  this  practice.  This  was  the  day  of  roads, 
canals,  really  inter-state  improvements  by  state 
action — transitional  period  from  old  to  new  meth 
ods — and  the  financial  collapse  of  that  year  (of 
which  the.  reader  has  been  reminded)  led  the 
people  to  look  to  the  structure  of  public  works  as 
a  source  of  relief.  They  clamored  to  have  the 
state  at  once  enter  upon  a  wild  scheme  in  that 
fatal  field  of  municipal  enterprise.  The  sagacious 

f  While  the  patriots  of  the  Revolution  called  themselves  Whigs — 
the  name  of  their  English  friends  (derived  from  Scotland,  first  in 
derision  by  their  enemies,  who  in  turn  were  called  Torys,  a  term  of 
reproach  derived  from  Irish  outlaws),  the  name  Whig  was  adopted  by 
the  young  National  Republicans  of  New  York  in  1834,  who  then  sup 
ported  young  William  L.  Seward  (who  was  a  year  younger  than 
Wade)  for  governor  of  New  York,  but  was  then  defeated  by  Marcy. 
The  name  was  at  once  adopted  by  all  opponents  of  the  Jackson-Van 
Buren  Loco  Foco  party  (except  the  anti- Mason) ,  then  beginning  to  call 
themselves  Democrats.  Three-fourths  of  the  voters  of  the  Western 
Reserve  were  Whigs. 


134  B.  F.   WADE. 

senator  from  Ashtabula  opposed  it  with  great 
vigor,  as  did  several  of  his  colleagues  in  both 
houses  from  his  section.  At  that  day  the  Western 
Reserve  was  as  broadly  marked  from  the  rest  of 
the  state  as  was  the  north  from  the  south  at  any 
period  of  our  history.  The  measure  prevailed. 
Mr.  Wade-  suffered  for  his  opposition,  and  the 
state  suffered  deeply  because  of  the  failure  of  his 
efforts. 

^Quite  his  first  action  was  to  secure  the  passage 
of  a  resolution  against  the  annexation  of  the  new 
republic  of  Texas,  which  passed  the  Ohio  Demo 
cratic  senate  unanimously.* 

During  the  second  session  of  Mr.  Wade's  term, 
in  the  winter  of  1838-9,  came  the  Kentucky 
commissioners,  created  by  her  legislature,  and 
commissioned  by  her  governor. t  They  came  to 
secure  the  passage  of  a  more  vigorous  and 
stringent  fugitive  slave  law,  although  it  had  been 
shown  that  it  was  with  the  utmost  difficulty  that 

*  We  are  to  hear  much  of  this.  Texas  was  first  occupied  by  an  Amer 
ican  colony  under  a  grant  to  Austin  of  Connecticut,  in  1823.  The  col 
ony  was  attached  to  Coahula  and  governed  with  gross  injustice,  ex- 
clu^ively  by  Mexican  methods.  The  first  outbreak  was  against  the 
state,  and  fully  justified.  The  battle  of  San  Jacinto  was  fought  April 
21,  1836.  The  United  States  acknowledged  the  existence  of  the  Re 
public,  as  an  independent  state,  in  March  1837.  The  project  of  its 
annexation  to  the  United  States  became  at  once  a  burning  question. 
It  dictated  policies,  nominated  and  defeated  Presidents,  and  was  with 
the  agitations  consequent  of  the  purchase  of  Louisiana,  the  immediate 
active  cause  of  a  destruction  of  the  institution  it  was  to  perpetuate. 

,fMr  Moorhead  (afterward  a  Whig  senator)  and  Price  a  Demo 
crat. 


B.  F.    WADE.  135 

the  existing^  laws  could  be  executed,  as  they 
rarely  were. 

The  utmost  good  feeling  had  until  recently 
prevailed  between  the  people  of  the  two  states. 
They  had  fought  the  Indians  together,  and  Ohio 
was  grateful  for  the  aid  of  gallant  Kentucky, 
when  invaded  by  Brock,  Proctor  and  her  own 
Indian  son,  the  greater  Tecumseh,  in  1812-13. 
Indeed,  most  of  the  men  of  that  day  of  peril  and 
blood  not  slain  in  battle  or  massacred  by  the  foe, 
were  yet  in  vigorous  life.  Recently,  however, 
several  slave-hunting  cases  had  arisen  in  Ohio,  of 
doubtful  character — doubtful  as  to  the  real  status 
of  the  alleged  fugitives  and  the  means  of  capture, 
— which  had  disturbed  the  otherwise  pleasant 
relations  of  two  peoples. 

The  Kentucky  commissioners  were  received 
with  open  arms  by  the  majority  of  the  two  houses. 
In  the  senate  but  five  opposed  their  wishes.  Mr. 
Wade  was  quite  the  most  determined  as  the 
ablest  of  these.  They  could  only  debate,  delay 
and  obstruct.  The  courtly  Moorhead  and  col 
league  waited  upon  the  senator  from  Ashtabula, 
and  in  moving — quite  pathetic  terms — laid  before 
him  the  tender  and  benignant  character  of  the 
institution  in  Kentucky,  where  the  slaves  were 
barely  servants,  and  treated  more  like  children, 
yet  would  run  away.  Mr.  Wade  thought  there 
must  be  some  inexplicable  mystery  in  this,  when 
such  a  docile  race  sought  every  opportunity  to 
escape  from  such  parental  love  and  tenderness. 


136  B.  F.    WADE. 

He  had  decided  objections  to  becoming  a  slave 
hunter  and  bailiff,  and  asked  if  gentlemen  like 
themselves  ever  engaged  in  the  business  in  Ken 
tucky.  Moorhead  admitted  they  did  not.  Price 
laughed  and  told  his  colleague  that  the  northerner 
had  him  at  disadvantage.  "No,"  said  the  indig 
nant  native  of  the  Feeding  Hills,  "you  send 
your  drivers  rough  and  desperate  to  decoy,  steal 
and  kidnap  them,  and  were  I  master  here,  every 
man  of  them  should  be  placed  in  irons,  and  our 
people  spared  the  pain  and  terror  of  their  pres 
ence."  It  was  in  this  spirit  he  met  the  bill.  He 
assailed  it  when  reported  from  the  committee  in 
all  forms,  details  and  provisions.  It  is  to  be 
remembered  there  was  then  no  source  or  supply 
of  anti-slavery  arguments.  The  place  of  the 
Democratic  legislative  caucus  was  in  a  large  upper 
room  of  the  Ton  Tine  coffee  house,  on  the  main 
street  of  Columbus.  An  elevated  Whig  member 
of  the  house,  in  his  exhilaration  on  the  floor  one 
day,  irreverently  called  it  Tin  Pan,  and  so  it  was 
ever  after  known.  The  bill  was  "tin  panned"* 

*Of  Tin  Pan,  after  the  production  of  a  batch  of  new  judges,  in  1839, 
40,  the  following^  d'  esprit  had  wide  circulation: 

Our  vulgar  English  verb — create 

Means  really  this  and  no  more, 
Nor  less  in  fact— it  is  to  make 

Things,  of  what  nothing  was  before. 

This  power,  as  said,  don't  dwell  with  man: — 

That's  mistake,  it  dwells  mTin  Pan  ; 
I  prove  it  maugre  all  your  grudges, 
By  its  act  of  making  judges. 


B.  F.    WADE.  137 

and  came  up  for  final  action  in  the  senate  at  9  A. 
M.  of  the  twenty-first  of  February,  1839.  Those 
were  working-day  times.  It  was  passed  in  the 
form  it  then  wore — a  bill  of  fourteen  sections 
alleged  to  have  been  prepared  in  Kentucky.  It 
began  with  an  elaborate  whereas,  glorifying  the 
compromises  of  the  constitution  and  asserting  the 
duty  of  Ohio  in  the  premises  as  one  "reaping  the 
largest  measure  of  benefits  conferred  by  the  con 
stitution,  to  recognize  to  their  fullest  extent  the 
obligation  it  imposes,"  etc. 

The  minor  provisions  authorized  the  pursuing 
party,  before  any  judge,  justice  or  mayor,  to  swear 
out  a  warrant  for  the  arrest  of  any  alleged  fugitive 
addressed  to  any  sheriff  or  constable,  whose  duty 
it  was  to  arrest  the  party  anywhere  in  the  state 
and  return  him  before  the  officer  issuing  or  some 
other  judge,  justice  or  mayor  most  convenient. 
It  secured  to  the  claimant  sixty  days  to  prepare 
for  the  hearing — no  delay  to  the  captured,  who 
meantime  was  to  be  committed  to  the  county 
jail.  The  hearing  was  summary,  without  a  jury, 
and  the  warrant  of  the  court  authorized  a  removal 
to  the  state  whence  escape  was  made.  Every 
body  was  prohibited  from  interfering,  or  consult 
ing  as  to  means  of  interference  with  the  pursuit, 
and  from  harboring,  concealing  or  in  any  way 
aiding  the  pursued,  or  any,  fugitive,  under  severe 
penalties,  f 

The  session  ran  from  the  morning  of  the  twenty- 

f  See  act  of  February  26,  1836,  37  Vol.    Stats,  of  Ohio,  page  38. 


138  B.  P.   WADE. 

first  into  the  morning  of  the  twenty-third.  After 
midnight  of  the  last  hours,  Senator  Powers  of 
Akron  arose  and  delivered  a  strong,  bold,  vigor 
ous^  manly  speech  against  the  bill.J 
i.  It  was  two  o'clock  when  Wade  arose,  weary  but 
determined,  to  conclude  the  opposition  to  the  bill. 
From  this,  as  reported,  I  quote  to  show  specimens 
of  his  then  style  of  dealing  with  grave  subjects,  as 
well  as  the  spirit,  courage,  firmness  with  which  he 
confronted  the  greatest  issue  of  his  country  of  any 
time.  The  details  of  the  bill,  as  stated,  had  been 
discussed  at  its  earlier  stages.  This  was  a  final 
assault  from  the  high  and  broad  ground  of  large 
fundamental  opposition.  He  began  with  a  rapid 
sketch  of  the  course  of  the  majority,  the  efforts  of 
its  opponents  in  good  faith  to  relieve  it  of  some  of 
its  worst  features  by  amendments.  "In  sullen 
silence  you  voted  them  down.  No  friend  of  the  bill 
deigned  to  raise  his  voice  in  its  defense."  He 
then  spoke  of  the  treatment  by  the  majority  ex 
tended  to  its  friends,  obsequious  to  give  them  every 
opportunity,  and  churlishly  denying  every  courtesy 
of  needed  opportunity,  to  its  opponents  to  debate 
it. 

%  Gregory  Powers  was  worthy  to  stand,  as  he  did,  with  the  best 
men  of  Ohio.  I  never  saw  his  speech.  It  was  widely  spoken  of  as  a 
noble  effort  of  manly  argument  and  indignant  eloquence.  He  was  then 
not  more  than  thirty-four,  tall,  dark,  black-browed,  one  of  the  most 
promising  men  of  the  state.  He  died  early.  As  was  told  us,  the 
younger,  he  was  compelled  to  argue  a  heavy  case,  with  a  severe  cold 
upon  his  lungs,  and  died  of  the  effects.  I  am  glad  to  add  this  note 
to  the  memory  of  Gregory  Powers. 


B.  F.    WADE. 


139 


Such  are  the  contemptible  expedients  resorted  to  by  you  to  silence 
discussion  upon  this  infamous  bill  of  pains  and  penalties.  It  shall 
not  avail  you.  I  stand  here  at  two  o'clock  of  the  night,  after  a  con 
tinuous  session  since  nine  of  yesterday  morning,  and  though  I  speak 
to  ears  that  are  deaf,  and  hearts  impervious  to  right,  justice  and  lib 
erty,  I  will  be  heard,  although  from  the  servile  policy  manifested  by 
the  majority  on  this  floor,  I  have  no  hope  of  arresting  this  measure — 
a  measure  which  shall  ere  long  stamp  its  supporters  with  deeper  in 
famy  than  did  the  alien  and  sedition  laws  their  inventors.  Like  the 
heroes  of  old,  the  champions  of  the  bill,  before  taking  up  the  gauntlet 
in  its  defense,  have  prefaced  their  remarks  with  a  history  of  their  own 
births,  habits  and  educations.  As  I  suspected,  they  were  born  in  the 
murky  atmosphere  of  slavery,  or  of  parents  who  were.  Were  I  to  fol 
low  their  examples,  and  speak  of  so  unimportant  a  subject  as  myself, 
I  would  say  I  was  born  in  a  land  where  the  system  of  slavery  was  un 
known,  where  the  councils  of  the  nation  were  swayed  by  the  great 
principles  of  equity,  where  right  and  justice  were  deemed  the  highest 
expediency.  My  infancy  was  rocked  in  the  cradle  of  universal  liberty. 
My  parents  were  of  the  Revolution  ;  their  earliest  lesson  taught  me  was 
to  respect  the  rights  of  others,  and  defend  my  own,  to  resist  oppression 
to  the  death  ;  neither  do  nor  suffer  wrong  ;  do  to  others  as  I  would 
they  should  do  to  me,  and  though  my  venerable  instructors  have  long 
since  passed  away,  the  God-like  principles  they  taught  me  can  never 
die. 

This  elevated  strain  he  pursued  for  some  space, 
rapidly  sketching  the  great  genesis  of  free  institu 
tions  of  this  country,  and  bringing  into  relief  the 
startling  departure  from  them  that  found  expres 
sion  in  the  measure  under  consideration.  He 
made  forcible  reference  to  the  ordinance  of  '87, 
which  dedicated  the  entire  northwest  to  freedom, 
— freedom  for  all,  forbidding  slavery  in  all  forms. 
He  spoke  of  the  great  expectations  of  the  great 
wise  men  who  declared  this  purpose. 

Dare  you  disappoint  them,  and  with  them  the  hopes  of  the  world? 
Did  they  intend  you  should  become  the  mean  apologists  of  slavery, 
throw  down  these  barriers  against  its  encroachments,  built  up  with 
such  cautious  care.  Make  the  state  its  great  hunting  ground,  and 


140  B.  F.    WADE. 

this  to  reassert  a  title  in  human  flesh,  which  the  laws  of  God,  of  nature, 
your  constitution,  alike  refuse  to  recognize  To  affirm  that  these  great 
men  intended  this  is  to  pronounce  upon  them  the  foulest  libel.  Yet 
such  is  your  argument.  While  I  have  a  seat  on  this  floor,  am  a  citi 
zen  of  this  state — nay,  until  the  laws  of  nature  and  nature's  God  are 
changed— I  will  never  recognize  the  right  of  one  man  to  hold  his  fellow, 
man  a  slave.  I  lothe,  I  abhor  the  accursed  system,  nor  shall  my 
tongue  belie  my  heart. 

Proceeding  then  to  admit  that  slaveholders  for 
the  time  were  safe  behind  their  state  barriers — "  I 
ought  not  to  disturb  them  there.  There  let  them 
remain  and  cherish  and  hug  the  odious  system  to 
their  hearts,  as  long  as  they  can  brave  the  focus 
of  public  opinion  of  the  nineteenth  century.  "  He 
taunted  Kentucky  with  her  pusillanimous  position. 
Yesterday  haughty,  arrogant,  calling  "hands  off;" 
to-day  imploring  help  to  catch  her  runaways.  He 
would  not  thus  become  party  to  her  great  crime, 
would  in  no  way  aid  in  sustaining  her  in  it. 
"Kentucky  no  longer  asked  you  to  let  slavery 
alone,  but  to  become  active  agents  in  its  support. 
Mr.  Speaker,*  do  you  approve  of  slavery?  Let 
me  answer  for  you — 'No.'  Would  you  deal  in 
slaves?  'No.'  Is  it  right  to  deprive  a  man  of 
his  liberty?  'No.'  Can  you  conscientiously,  by 
your  legislation,  aid  in  doing  all  this?  Yes,  Mr. 
Speaker,  I  know  you  will.  I  know  your  servility. " 

Kentucky,  he  went  on  to  say,  having  solicited 
our  aid  in  support  of  slavery,  would  by  this  act  be 
estopped  from  charging  us  with  unwarranted  in 
terference  if  we  should  hereafter  ask  her  to  relieve 

*The  president   of    the  senate— Joe   Hawkins,  at  that  time— was 
called  the  speaker,  and  as  such  signed  himself. 


B.  F.    WADE.  141 

us  of  the  abominable  burden,  by  the  abatement 
of  the  nuisance.  This  idea  he  worked  up  with 
effect.  He  warned  her  not  to  make  up  an  issue 
on  slavery  with  Ohio,  and  especially  not  to  put 
trust  in  this  bill.  "  As  a  friend  of  Kentucky,  as 
a  lover  of  truth  and  fair  dealing,  one  who  despises 
deception,  and  who  has  some  knowledge  of  the 
people  of  the  state,  I  declare  here,  and  now,  in  my 
place,  your  law  will  be  of  no  validity,  it  will  remain 
a  dead  letter  on  the  statute  book.  With  the 
frankness  of  honest  and  honorable  men,  you  should 
have  declared  this  to  the  agents  of  Kentucky.  Sir, 
your  legislation  is  mean,  deceptive,  unwrorthy  the 
dignity  of  this  state,  and  you  know  it  to  be  so." 
He  asked,  demanded,  if  the  senators  would  aid  in 
the  execution  of  the  law.  "  Dare  you  make  a  law 
which  no  decent  man  will  execute?"  he  demanded 
further.  He  drew  a  strong  picture  of  a  community, 
once  free,  who  should  become  so  abject  and  craven, 
that  an  act  of  the  character  of  the  one  under  con 
sideration  could  be  executed  in  their  midst.  He 
took  higher — the  highest  ground,  which  he  rever 
ently  approached — the  "higher  law,"  as  it  later 
was  derisively  called.  "No  one  has  yet  com 
pared  your  bill  with  the  paramount  laws.  The 
subject  has  not  been  broached.  Should  your  bill  be 
found  conflicting  with  their  provisions,  it  will  not 
only  be  void,  but  we  must  answer  for  consequences. 
You  cannot  violate  these  laws  with  impunity.  If 
you  oppress  the  weak  and  defenseless,  no  power 
can  shield  you  from  the  consequences  ;  the  evil 


I42  B.  F.   WADE. 

will  recoil  upon  your  heads,  upon  the  heads  of 
your  children,  to  the  third  and  fourth  generation. 
Such  is  the  order  of  nature — the  will  of  God.  The 
neglect  of  this  great  truth  has  filled  the  earth  with 
violence  and  crime,  from  the  first  ages  to  this  day. 
You  can  not  deprive  a  man  of  his  liberty,  however 
lowly  and  weak,  without  endangering  your  own. 
The  practice  of  tyranny  becomes  habitual,  weakens 
the  sense  of  justice,  respect  for  the  rights  of  others, 
stimulates  the  malignant  passions,  engenders 
pride,  renders  a  man  helpless,  dependent  ;  is 
scarcely  less  fatal  to  the  oppressor  than  to  the  op 
pressed.  The  influence  of  this  example  will  re 
main  when  we  are  forgotten,  to  influence  unborn 
generations  and  jeopardize  the  well-being  of  pos 
terity. " 

He  pursued  this  high  theme  at  length,  and  drew 
this  distinction  between  man's  enactment  and  the 
laws  of  God.  The  first  may  be  evaded,  the  latter 
execute  themselves — the  penalty  inexorable.  In 
the  light  of  this  code  he  proceeded  to  a  careful 
analysis  of  the  principles  of  the  bill,  especially  the 
provisions  denouncing  penalties  for  acts  of  charity 
to  the  fleeing,  famished  fugitive  from  slavery.  It 
had  been  urged  that  the  comity  of  states  required 
this  act  in  behalf  of  Kentucky.  To  this  he  replied, 
comity  could  never  require  a  mean,  base  or  tyran 
nical  act.  In  handling  Kentucky's  claim  to  our 
consideration,  he  cited  with  great  effect  several 
recent  outrages  of  the  Kentucky  agents  and 
authorities  on  citizens  of  Ohio,  among  them  the 


B.  F.    WADE.  143 

once  well-known  case  of  Eliza  Johnson  and  John 
B.  Mahan. 

His  discussion  of  the  constitutional  question,  then 
comparatively  new  and  fresh,  was  remarkably 
able,  and  his  handling  of  authorities  admirable. 
His  plea  for  trial  by  jury,  to  settle  the  status  of  a 
claimed  slave,  has  been  rarely  surpassed.  He 
read  a  notable  case  from  New  Jersey  supporting 
his  view,  and  concluded  that  point  in  these  words  : 

Does  not  the  constitution  of  Ohio,  equally  with  that  of  New  Jersey, 
guarantee  trial  by  jury  ?  Are  you  dumb?  Thank  God  a  crouching, 
time-serving  legislation  is  not  the  last  resort,  else  freedom  in  this  state 
would  find  a  grave  before  this  session  closes.  But  the  doings  of  this 
night  must  pass  in  open  day  a  sterner  trial,  before  they  can  be  made 
effectual,  and  you  may  read  their  doom  in  the  case  I  have  just  cited. 

"The  night  is  far  advanced,"  he  said.  "The 
measure  under  consideration  by  its  friends  is 
adjudged  more  congenial  with  darkness,"  and  he 
went  on  for  three  columns,  more,  to  batter  it  and 
them  out  of  the  little  remaining  semblance  of 
legislation  and  law-makers  left  to  them.  The 
threat  of  dissolution  by  the  south  was  then  chronic. 
He  defied  them  to  execute  it. 

His  speech,  like  all  complete  work,  needs  to  be 
taken  entire.  No  quotation  can  do  it  justice  ;  no 
description  realize  its  force  and  effect  to  the 
reader,  or  any  reading  give  its  effect  as  delivered. 
On  going  over  with  it  now,  one  is  surprised  to 
see  how  little  has  since  been  really  added  to  this 
great  argument  against  slavery.  It  stands  as  one 
of  the  ablest  legislative  speeches  of  the  state.  It 
was  amongst  the  ablest  delivered  against  slavery. 


144  B.  F.    WADE. 

The  whole  subject  was  then  new  and  fresh.  It 
was  a  long  stride  in  advance  of  public  opinion, 
even  on  the  Reserve.  It  was  widely  printed  and 
read,  and  became  one  of  the  sources  of  education, 
argument  and  influence,  ere  the  great  anti-slavery 
cause  was  well  in  the  milk— so  to  say  of  it. 3 

Mr.  Wade,  as  before  said,  was  nominated  for 
reelection  at  the  October  state  election,  1839. 
His  district  had  a  Whig  majority  of  four  thousand. 
He  was  defeated  by  a  majority  of  sixty,  by  the 
Democrat,  Benjamin  Bissell  of  Geauga,  who  was 
soon  to  press  after  him  on  the  same  side  in  the 
anti-slavery  struggle.  Whatever  may  be  said, 
this  result  was  due  entirely  to  his  course  on  the 
pro-slavery  bill.  As  already  stated,  the  entire 
north  was  steeped  in  pro-slavery  sentiment,  every 
rood  of  which  had  to  be  literally  conquered  to  the 
cause  of  freedom.  The  work  was  rapidly  accom 
plished  on  the  Reserve,  and  when,  two  years  later, 
Mr.  Wade  was  again  placed  before  the  people  for 
the  senate,  no  one  thought  of  seriously  opposing 
him. 

I  may,  in  anticipation,  mention  that  this  speech 
of  Mr.  Wade,  and  that  of  Mr.  Powers,  under  the 
aroused  sense  of  right,  acting  on  the  state  pride 
of  the  Ohio  people,  made  the  Kentucky  act  utterly 
odious.  No  case  ever  arose  under  it.  No  man 
of  the  south  had  the  hardihood  to  seek  its  enforce 
ment  on  a  soil  in  which  it  perished  at  once.  As 
Wade  said,  in  the  dimly  lighted  old  senate  cham 
ber,  full  of  bad  air,  foul  breaths,  and  mephitic 


B.   F.    WADE.  145 

vapor,  it  was  a  snare  to  the  slaveholders,  and  the 
leaves  of  the  Ohio  statute  book  became  its  winding 
sheet,  where  it  was  laid  dead  from  its  birth.  The 
state  improvement  act  was  also  short-lived.  The 
two  were  not  lovely  in  such  lives  as  were  theirs, 
and  they  were  not  widely  separated  in  their  timely 
deaths — way-marks  of  the  momentary  weakness 
and  folly  of  a  great  young  people  on  their  way  to 
the  van  of  the  republic,  where  their  lead  was  to  be 
wise  and  their  deportment  modest. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

Harrison  Campaign  of  1840. — Underestimate  of  it. — Political  Parties 
and  Leaders. — Whig  National  Convention,  December  4,  1839.-- 
Democratic,  May  5,  1840. — Issues.— Thomas  Corwin. — Result. — 
Birney's  Vote — J.  R.  Giddings  Enters  Twenty-sixth  Congress. — 
Death  of  President  Harrison — Censure  of  Adams — Giddings. — 
Texas. — Election  of  1844. — Henry  Clay. — Birney's  Vote. — Election 
of  1848. — Free-soil  Party. — Vote  for  Van  Buren. — Mr.  Giddings 
Nominated  for  the  Senate. — Mr.  Chase  Elected. — Ohio  Legislature. 
— Compromises  of  1850-51. — Fall  o  niel  Webster. — Fugitive 
Slave  Act  Denounced  by  Judge  Wade. 

HAVING  passed  the  great  cataclysm  caused  b*^v 
slavery,  being  able  now  by  the  broad  light  of  per 
fected  events  to  examine  and  estimate  the  influence 
and  significance  of  the  first  signs  of  the  rise  and 
steady  progress  of  the  anti-slavery  cause  until  its 
revolution  of  politics,  and  the  industry  and  civili 
zation  of  one  hemisphere  of  this  Republic,  histor 
ically  we  deem  no  intervening  events  of  the  least 
importance.  We  have  seen  the  awakening  of  the 
forces  that  are  to  overturn  existing  institutions  and 
change  the  configuration  of  the  Republic,  and  are 
impatient  of  everything  that  seeks  to  withdraw  us 
from  their  process,  and  the  process  of  events  im 
pelled  by  them.  True,  from  1840  to  1861  are 
twenty-one  long — or  short — years  as  we  estimate 


£.  F.  WADE.  147 

them.  Short  to  those  who  deplore  the  change — 
long  to  those  who  prayed,  hoped,  fought  for  its 
consummation.  In  these  years  the  struggles,  the 
politics,  the  rise  and  rule  of  parties,  the  elections 
and  policies  of  Presidents  are  of  no  possible  im 
portance,  save  as  they  influence  the  great  thing  that 
was  to  be.  In  the  grand  onward  march  of  the 
ages — the  centuries — this  is  very  true.  When  we 
turn  our  eyes  backward  to  earliest  historic  events, 
the  perspective  of  time  is  entirely  lost.  Its  se 
quence  cannot  be  apprehended.  The  great  old 
ages  seem  to  march  abreast  and  confront  us  in  a 
mass.  The  centuries  loom  on  us  in  groups — as  if 
contemporary.  We  forget  that  all  of  them,  all 
time,  have  marched,  filtered  through  the  narrow 
succession  of  days  in  grains  of  sand,  from  the  first  to 
the  present,  that  we  never  have  seen  two  days  come 
at  the  same  time.  Each  has  delivered  to  its  suc 
cessor  all  it  had  that  survived  it.  In  our  gaze 
backward  whole  centuries  have  sunk  from  our  vis- 
'ion,  leaving  things  wide  apart  standing  side  by  side. 
We  may  not  pause  to  grow  sad  over  the  utter  in 
significance  of  all  human  labor  and  achievements, 
which  such  retrospect  and  reflection  might  cause. 
There  may  be  nothing  really  great  or  small  in  the 
history  of  individuals  or  nations.  All  may  be  es 
sentially  of  the  same  size.  No  matter — the  events 
of  each  day  are  of  importance  to  it,  to  the  busy 
men  who  toil  and  perspire  under  its  sun,  and  we 
cannot  afford  to  permit  these  twenty-one  years  of 
our  life  and  time  to  disappear  from  even  this  slight 


148  B.  F.    WADE. 

memoir.  Great  men,  on  the  upper  and  thinner 
growing  crust,  beneath  which  the  great  forces  were 
storing  their  might,  were  laboring  on  questions  of 
issues  and  policies  which  have  survived  the  cata 
clysm,  and  in  some  form  entered  into  the  great 
campaign  of  1884,  as  into  the  greater  campaign  of 
1840,  which  must  have  a  passing  word — several 
words,  I  fear. 

It  was  the  mission  of  the  Federalist  to  construct, 
invent,  create,  adopt  the  constitution,  elect,  or 
ganize  and  set  the  new  government  on  in  a  health 
ful,  vigorous,  successful  career.  Had  he  but  the 
capacity,  with  his  prestige,  to  adopt  new  ideas  and 
work  them  into  governmental  processes,  he  would 
have  remained  at  the  helm.  None  but  a  man  of 
progress  can  govern  a  progressive  people.  The 
Democrat  of  to-day  has  shown  this  capacity,  and 
is  now  ruler.  If  he  gives  the  Republic  a  better 
government,  on  substantially  the  Republican  basis* 
than  did  its  inventors,  he  will  remain  there  for  a 
time.  The  Federalist  was  unequal  to  the  new 
demands,  and  disappeared,  as  did  the  later  Whig, 
and  for  the  same  reason.  Mr.  Jefferson's  task  was 
to  correct  the  tendencies  of  Federalists,  place  the 
barque  more  directly  with  the  Republican  current, 
and  give  fuller  effect  to  Democratic  influences, 
though  to  claim  him  as  the  founder  of  the  present 
Democratic  party  is  absurd.  That  was  more  the 
work  of  Andrew  Jackson.  No  two  prominent 
Americans  were  ever  more  dissimilar  than  Jeffer 
son  and  Jackson.  Their  only  resemblance  was — 


B.  F.    WADE.  149. 

they  were  both  demagogues.  For  the  rest  they 
contrast. 

Mr.  Madison  fought  the  war,  and  though  on 
the  whole  we  were  worsted  in  it,  we  made  vast 
gains  by  it. 

Andrew  Jackson  destroyed  the  national  bank. 
Whether  that  was  a  good  or  a  bad  thing  is  still 
debatable.  Whichever  it  was,  the  task  was  wholly 
his.  So  he  introduced  the  feature  of  personal  gov 
ernment — was  the  government  pretty  much.  He 
originated  the  causes  which  inaction  overwhelmed 
his  successor. 

To  Mr.  Van  Buren  is  due  the  credit  of  separat 
ing  the  government  wholly  from  the  banks.  Mr. 
Jackson  removed  the  national  deposits  from  the 
national  bank,  and  dividing  he  placed  the  public 
monies  with  the  state  banks.  Mr.  Van  Buren  in 
vented  the  independent  treasury — "sub-treasury" 
it  was  called — still  the  method  of  holding  and  dis 
bursing  the  revenues.  It  was  one  of  the  potent 
causes  of  his  overthrow,  which,  added  to  those  he 
inherited,  were  too  strong  for  him.  The  bank 
influence  was  largely  with  the  administration  while 
it  employed  the  state  banks.  It  was  quite  unani 
mously  against  him  when  he  placed  the  public 
money  in  the  vaults  of  his  own  treasurer. 

Mr.  Seward  was  defeated  by  Mr.  Marcy  in  1834. 
Mr.  Seward  defeated  Mr.  Marcy  in  1838,  prophetic 
of  Mr.  Van  Buren's  fortune  two  years  later.  A 
Whig  national  convention  assembled  at  Harrisburg, 
December  4,  1839,  to  nominate  for  the  Presidential 


150  B.  F.  WADE. 

election  the  ensuing  year.  General  Harrison  had 
made  a  splendid  run,  "  mostly  on  his  own  hook," 
in  1836.  Largely  it  was  the  wish,  as  well  as  the 
expectation,  that  Mr.  Clay  should  be  named. 
Many  Whigs  had  b'een  followers  of  General  Jack 
son,  and  in  no  event  would  vote  for  him.  They 
called  themselves  Conservatives — the  first  appear 
ance  of  that  now  odious  term  in  our  political  nomen 
clature,  of  whom  Senator  Tallmage  was  the  head. 
Mugwumps  these  would  be  now  called.  Twenty- 
two  states  were  present  by  delgates  at  Harrisburg. 
Three  names  were  placed  before  them,  Mr.  Clay, 
General  Harrison  and  General  Scott,  all  three 
natives  of  Virginia.  On  the  first  ballot  103  votes 
were  cast  for  Mr.  Clay,  94  for  Harrison,  and  57 
for  Scott.  On  the  last  ballot,  taken  on  the  third 
day  of  the  ardent  but  perfectly  friendly  contest, 
Harrison  received  148,  Clay  90,  Scott  16.  With 
Harrison  was  placed  John  Tyler,  also  a  Virginian. 
Mr.  Clay,  in  advance,  gave  the  most  cordial  assur 
ance  of  whole-hearted  support  of  the  nominee,  be 
he  whom  he  might.  He  redeemed  it  in  the  most 
effective  manner.  A  Whig  electoral  ticket  was 
placed  in  the  field  in  every  state  but  South  Caro 
lina,  whose  legislature  cast  her  vote. 

Mr.  Van  Buren  was  nominated  at  Baltimore, 
May  5,  1840.  One  branch  of  the  Abolitionists, 
under  the  lead  of  Myron  Hawley,  placed  James 
G.  Birney,  then  of  Michigan,  also  in  nomination — 
of  which  more  hereafter. 

Generally,  the  policy  and  course   of  the  whole 


B.  F.    WADE.  151 

Jackson  party  and  administration  were  broadly  i 
isssue.  There  had  been  many  frauds,  peculations 
and  defalcations.  There  was  the  Seminole  war, 
and  the  proposed  Cuba  bloodhounds  as  foreign 
mercenaries.  The  declared  issues,  formally  taken, 
were  upon  the  veto  power,  which  had  been  exer 
cised  more  times  by  the  self-willed  Jackson  than 
by  all  his  predecessors.*  Mr.  Van  Buren,  though 
his  supporters  were  in  the  minority  in  the  twenty- 
fifth  congress,  had  not  employed  it  at  all.  Then 
there  was  the  great  issue  of  the  currency,  which 
involved  banking  and  the  sub-treasury,  a  protec 
tive  tariff,  internal  improvements  and  the  public 
lands.  Slavery — even  under  the  head  of  Texas 
— found  no  place,  nor  could  the  Liberty  (or  third) 
party  force  an  issue  with  either  of  the  great  parties, 
save  under  the  right  of  petition,  an  issue  wrought 
out  by  Mr.  Adams.  This  in  some  sections  was 
effectively  used,  especially  on  the  Reserve,  by 
Mr.  Wade  and  Mr.  Giddings,  then  in  the  house, 
against  the  Democrats,  who  were  the  offending 
party  in  this  matter,  so  that  incidentally  the  insti 
tution  directly  suffered. 

A  notable  theme  was  the  famous  New  Jersey 
li  Broad  Seal"  election  case,  of  the  twenty-fifth 
congress.  The  house  consisted  of  one  hundred 
and  eighteen  administration  men  to  one  hundred 
and  nineteen  opposition  of  all  sorts.  After  a  long 
contest  R.  M.  T.  Hunter,  an  Independent  Demo 
crat,  was  elected  speaker.  Of  the  six  New  Jersey 

*  Written  before  the  present  use  of  the  veto. 


152  B.  F.    WADE. 

claimants  of  seats  all  brought  the  same  evidence 
of  right,  under  the  broad  seal  of  the  state.  Of 
these,  the  ex-clerk,  who  made  up  the  list  and 
called  the  house,  on  the  initial  day  of  the  congress 
excluded  five,  which  was  the  final  award  of  the 
organized  house.  It  was  during  the  chaos  occa 
sioned  by  the  contest  that  Mr.  Adams  early  arose, 
made  a  motion  which  the  clerk  refused  to  entertain, 
and  he  put  it  himself,  declared  it  carried — himself 
became  chairman  by  common  consent  of  the  body 
in  its  transition  from  raw  units  to  the  firm  ground 
of  a  parliamentary  house,  contemplated  by  the 
constitution. 

Unfortunately  for  both  parties — for  the  history 
of  the  time,  perhaps — some  illy-advised  Democrat 
ridiculed  the  person,  life  and  habits  of  General 
Harrison,  a  man  of  pure  life,  exalted  character,  an 
accomplished  civilian,  and  one  of  the  ablest  com 
manders  of  raw  troops  of  our  history,  though  it 
must  be  conceded  that  his  soldiers  were  of  the 
finest  material  in  the  raw  that  ever  followed  an 
intrepid  leader.  He  was  said  to  be  a  weak-minded 
garrulous  old  man,  living  in  a  log-cabin,  and 
solacing  the  straitened  twilight  of  life  with  hard 
cider.  The  child  then  unborn  rued  the  scurrilous 
libel.  The  men  of  the  west  who  had  fought  under 
him,  whose  wives  and  daughters,  in  their  absence 
defended  their  cabins  against  Indian  forays,  took 
it  up  with  a  flash.  They  ignited  the  continent 
with  their  indignant  enthusiasm.  Log-cabins  with 
the  coon  pelt  nailed  to  it,  hard  cider  barrels 


B.  F.    WADE.  153 

pictured  in  every  fashion  and  color  on  banner  and 
flag,  borne  in  endless  processions,  became  the 
emblem  of  the  battle,  the  badges  of  the  party. 
All  the  poetic  and  rhyming  talent  of  the  country 
became  inspired,  and  poured  from  every  quarter 
a  swollen,  mingled  tide  of  rhymed  sarcasm,  wit, 
humor  and  coarse  ribald  blackguardism  upon  Mr. 
Van  Buren  and  his  supporters.  There  were 
occasional  gleams  of  wit,  real  humor  and  touches 
of  poetry.  The  words,  set  to  simple  airs,  were 
sung  from  Canada  to  Mexico,  from  the  Atlantic 
to  the  remotest  march  of  the  westward-going 
immigrant.  Literally,  the  administration  was 
sung  and  stung  to  death. 

All  of  these  were  but  the  bubbles,  the  foam  of 
the  wide,  deep  ocean,  lashed  by  a  real  storm. 
That  was  a  period  of  exceptionally  able — of  great 
men,  never  more  than  twice  equaled,  and  never 
surpassed  in  our  annals.  All  the  political  talent, 
knowledge  and  skill  of  the  country  were  called 
into  action  and  marshaled  on  both  sides — not  to 
sing  songs,  march  in  processions,  and  on  one  side 
guzzle  hard  cider.  The  whole  of  that  liquid  in 
the  country,  a  fixed  quantity  at  the  most,  if  put 
in  real  requisition,  would  have  been  exhausted  in 
the  first  month  of  the  campaign.  There  was  an 
able,  exhaustive  and  exhausting  discussion,  not 
only  of  the  policy,  measures  and  conduct  of  the 
administration,  but  of  the  great  principles  of  the 
government  itself.  It  was  the  first  great  popular 
discussion  of  them — never  equaled  since.  What- 


154  B.  F.  WADE. 

ever  may  have  been  the  direct  gain  by  the  labors 
•of  the  Whig  orators  and  writers,  who  made  the 
onset,  and  maintained  an  aggressive  war  from  the 
first  to  the  last,  indirectly  the  gain  in  the  educa 
tion  of  the  people — apt  pupils  as  they  were — was 
of  incalculable  benefit  permanently. 

The  campaign  opened  on  the  Reserve  in  mid 
winter,  with  mass  meetings  at  nearly  all  the 
county-seats,  at  which  popular  speeches  were 
made,  denunciatory,  hortatory  and  argumentative 
— the  first  introduced  in  that  part  of  the  state — or 
anywhere  north,  among  men  of  New  England 
origin,  and  then  first  and  generally  called  stump 
speeches.* 

LjFrank  Wade,  as  we  saw,  won  his  spurs  as  a 
political  speaker  in  the  Ohio  senate  the  winter  be 
fore.  A  great  state  mass  convention  of  the  Whigs 
was  holden  at  Columbus  the  twenty-second  of  Feb 
ruary,  1840,  at  which  he  was  one  of  the  principal 
speakers.  J) Four  great  Whig  state  mass  meetings 
were  early  holden  in  Ohio,  at  which  General  Har 
rison  was  present.  The  first  on  the  site  of  Camp 
Meigs,  May  4,  which  continued  three  or  four  days, 
commemorative  of  the  siege  by  Tecumseh  and 

*  The  term,  as  the  practice,  originated  in  Kentucky,  where  the  out 
door  orator  usually  spoke,  from  the  top  of  that  part  of  a  tree  remaining 
in  the  earth  where  it  grew,  after  it  had  been  felled  with  axes.  The 
term  soon  came  to  mean  any  and  all  addresses  of  a  political- character, 
and  is  now  thoroughly  Anglicized  in  England  as  in  this  country. 
Stormonth's  dictionary  (Eng.),  Webster,  Worcester,  et  a!.—  another 
instance  of  the  almost  sole  mode  of  the  accession  of  entirely  new  words 
to  the  language — adoption  by  custom  from  pure  slang. 


B.   F.    WADE.  155 

Proctor,  of  May,  1813.  One  was  also  holden  at 
Erie,  September  10,  an  anniversary  of  Perry's  sea 
fight,  of  the  same  year,  at  which  time  and  place 
the  Democrats  held  a  rival  convention.* 

Thomas  Corwin  was  the  Whig  candidate  for 
governor  of  Ohio,  and  accompanied  by  Thomas 
Ewing,  visited  the  Reserve  in  May.f 

Mr.  Wade  took  rank  in  that  great  canvass  with 
the  best  speakers  of  Ohio,  and  was  second  to  but 
very  few  in  the  thoroughness  of  his  information, 
and  the  rather  rude  vigor  with  which  he  handled 
the  great  variety  of  subjects  dealt  with,  in  the 
wide  range  of  topic  and  mode  of  treatment,  char 
acteristic  of  the  contesfT\ 

From  the  first  there  were  signs  unmistakable  of 
the  result.  The  Whigs  could  that  year  have 
elected  Mr.  Clay,  General  Scott  or  almost  any 
candidate.  There  was  never  in  the  history  of  our 

*At  the  Democratic  stand  the  writer  first  saw  and  heard  James  Bu 
chanan  and  John  W.  Forney.  He  was  very  favorably  impressed  by  the 
first.  Forney  was  then  a  very  young  man. 

fThat  was  the  year  of  Corwin's  famous  reply  to  "the  late  Mr.  Crary  " 
of  Michigan,  as  John  Quincy  Adams  called  him  in  the  house,  a  few 
days  later.  I  first  heard  him  at  Ravenna,  of  that  May.  In  the  Lin 
coln  campaign  of  1860,  I  was  one  of  a  party,  including  Columbus  De 
lano,  Benjamin  F.  Stanton  and  others,  who  attended  Mr.  Corwin  sev 
eral  days  through  the  interior  of  Ohio  ;  saw  and  heard  a  great  deal  of 
him  at  the  capital,  later  ;  was  present  at  the  supper  party,  and  one  of 
the  group  of  Garfield  and  others  listening  to  his  flow  of  story  when 
smitten  of  paralysis.  I  have  heard  very  many  of  the  good  American 
speakers  of  my  time  ;  have  read  nearly  all  the  best  published  of  the 
English  and  Irish.  I  believe  Thomas  Corwin  at  his  best,  the  rarest  or 
ator  who  ever  spoke  the  language,  and  for  varied  excellence  in  every 
range,  never  surpassed  by  the  speaker  of  any  tongue — of  any  age  or 
time. 


156  B.  F.    WADE. 

popular  politics  so  much  and  such  widespread 
excitement,  agitation  and  popular  enthusiasm. 
The  conditions  and  material  for  its  parallel  can 
probably  never  again  exist  in  such  proportions. 
The  success  of  the  Whigs  was  almost  fatal  to  the 
party.  At  each  successive  Presidential  election  it 
attempted  to  arouse  the  same  wide,  deep,  popular 
enthusiasm  by  the  use  of  the  same  devices  and 
methods  which  were  the  effect,  the  product,  of  the 
agitation  of  1840 — the  forms,  utterance,  in  which 
that  spontaneously  expressed  itself.  "We  felt 
good  in  1849,"  said  a  melancholy  and  disap 
pointed  Whig  leader,  upon  the  nomination  of  Tay 
lor,  during  this  last  year,  ''and  we  want  to  feel 
good  again."  Alas!  first  love  is  but  for  once, 
and  the  very  youthful. 

Of  the  electoral  votes,  General  Harrison  re 
ceived  two  hundred  and  thirty-four,  Van  Buren 
sixty.  \ 

J  Mr.  Van  Buren  had  a  curious  personal  connection  with  the  war  of 
1812-13,  on  the  northern  and  western  frontier.  He  was  the  special 
judge-advocate  appointed  from  civil  life,  and  prosecuted  the  unfortu 
nate  General  Hull  for  his  failure  in  the  first  campaign,  tried  by  court 
martial  at  Albany  early  in  1814.  His  final  address,  extemporized  by 
special  permission  of  the  court,  was  never  reported  and  published,  at 
least  it  is  not  found  in  the  official  report  published  soon  after.  Hull 
was  defended  in  a  masterly  manner  by  Harrison  Gray  Otis,  as  will  be 
remembered.  His  summing  up,  reduced  to  writing,  and  read  by  the 
accused  as  the  rule  was,  is  a  masterly  performance. 

A  few  months  later,  Mr.  Van  Buren  was  also  appointed  to  prosecute 
General  Wilkinson,  tried  for  failure  on  the  Niagara  frontier.  General 
Dearborn  was  president  of  both  courts.  When  the  special  judge-ad 
vocate  presented  himself  to  enter  upon  his  duties,  he  was  met  by  a  mo 
tion  from  the  accused  to  exclude  him,  which  on  a  full  argument  was 
sustained.  '  Wilkinson's  Memoirs,'  Volume  III,  page  15. 


B.  F.    WADE.  157 

The  popular  recoil  against  the  successful  Whigs 
for  a  time  overwhelmed  them.  They  never  did 
recover.  Even  Corwin  was  defeated  for  governor 
in  1842,  and  the  party  was  'everywhere  forced 
back.  True,  General  Harrison  died,  and  Mr. 
Tyler  vetoed  their  national  bank  bills  in  all  forms. 
At  the  extra  session  and  later  they  made  an 
honest  effort  to  redeem  all  their  pledges  and,  save 
in  the  instance  of  the  bank  enactment,  passed  all 
their  measures.  Had  General  Harrison  lived,  the 
result  would  have  been  the  same.  No  set  of  men 
could  have  met  and  satisfied  the  popular  expecta 
tion,  which  was  fittingly  expressed  by  the  popular 
formula— "  Two  dollars  a  day  and  roast  beef" — 
for  the  most  ordinary  laborer.  One  should  fully 
understand  the  years  of  chronic  depression  and 
rates  of  wages  of  that  time  to  appreciate  the 
irony  of  this  saying,  invented  by  the  Democrats 
and  placed  in  the  mouths  of  Whig  demagogues, 
neither  few  of  over-scrupulous. 

In  turning  to  resume  the  sketchy  thread  of  the 
incipient  struggle  against  dominant  slavery,  in 
which  the  great  contest  of  1840  is  a  pure  episode, 
I  am  tempted  to  say  generally  that  when  in  the 
progress  of  a  people  or  state  the  time  is  ripe  for 
an  advance  in  mechanics,  science,  politics  or  art, 
the  thing  to  be  done  often  suggests  itself  to  sev 
eral  who  then  happen  to  be  in  the  van  of  the  re 
quired  movement,  and  there  are  many  contests  as 
to  the  real  discoverer,  mover,  leader.  Were  it 
not  for  this  general  tendency,  which  may  detect 


158  B.  F.    WADE. 

contemporaneously,  the  thing  itself  would  not 
gain  recognition,  and  so  secure  accomplishment. 
A  discovery,  however  intrinsically  valuable,  which 
the  men  of  the  time  cannot  appreciate,  remains  as 
a  thing  practically  hidden. 

Savonarola,  whose  life  and  fate  are  the  most 
pathetic  of  modern  history,  found  his  age  adverse, 
and  he  and  his  work  perished.  Luther  was  one 
of  the  many,  yet  the  force  which  bore  him  on 
spent  itself  ere  what  the  Protestant  world  deems 
complete  success,  was  accomplished — the  over 
throw  and  extinction  of  the  Romish  church.  Peace! 
the  world  could  not  then  nor  now  be  governed 
without  it. 

To  claim  the  arousing  and  marshaling  of  the 
force  of  the  mind  and  conscience  of  the  men  of  the 
north  against  slavery,  as  preeminently  the  work  of 
one  man,  is  a  totally  unwarranted  assumption. 
There  is  a  way  of  writing  history,  lately  attempted, 
which,  if  accepted  without  protest,  would  for  the 
time  seem  to  accomplish  this  thing.  The  writers 
of  the  biography  of  the  late  W.  L.  Garrison  rely 
quite  extensively  upon  his  Liberator  for  authority, 
and  thus  sustained  there  really  was  but  one  cham 
pion  of  God  and  freedom  in  the  north.  Should 
the  sons  of  the  late  J.  G.  Birney  accept  the  chal 
lenge,  work  as  largely  and  as  narrowly,  drawing 
their  authority  from  a  similar  source,  they  would 
for  him  make  a  case  every  whit  as  strong.  Neither 
work  would  be  accepted  finally  as  history  ;  both 
would  be  great  contributions  to  it,  of  value  beyond 


B.  F.   WADE.  159 

estimation.  This  last  work  should  be  at  once  set 
about.  It  would  have  this  unequaled  advantage 
— slavery  was  overthrown  by  political  means.  Mr. 
Garrison  refused  their  use,  opposed  with  the  might 
of  his  trenchant  pen  and  resounding  voice  their 
employment,  and  the  men  who  used  them. 

Mr.  Birney  was  among  the  first  to  see  that  the 
most  effective  single  thing  was  the  employment 
of  political  power,  backed  of  course  by  all  the 
moral  forces.  He  was  the  first  to  employ  it. 
He,  too,  was  a  candidate  for  the  Presidency  in 
1840. 

He  was  hewn  from  the  mountains,  rejected  of 
politicians,  to  become — I  am  not  to  anticipate. 
He  was  placed  in  the  field  largely  by  the  clear- 
seeing  Myron  Hawley,  as  mentione'd,  and  received 
but  seven  thousand  and  fifty-nine  votes,  provoking 
jibes  and  sneers  from  the  Whigs,  derision  and 
sarcasm  from  Garrison.  They  were  allies  against 
Birney.* 

The  Liberty  party — third  party — was  to  be  one 
of  many  evidences,  itself  an  illustration  that  a 
party  in  the  United  States  cannot  be  made.  It 
was  and  will  be  mainly  recruited  from  the  Whigs, 
and  treated  by  it  accordingly,  smiting  it  back  in  its 
hour  of  might.  There  will  be  individual  war  by  it 
against  leading  Whigs,  at  one  with  it,  save  its  in 
dependent  organization. 

*  I  am  glad  to  be  able  to  say  that  General  Wm.  Birney  is  now  en 
gaged  on  a  biography  of  his  late  father  which  will  be  of  great  value 
and  interest. 


160  B.  F.    WADE. 

Frank  Wade,  it  was  insisted,  must  leave  his 
party  and  join  it.  Mr.  Giddings  was  denounced, 
yet  he  was  to  abandon  his  organization  while 
Wade  still  grasped  its  remains,  fossilized  in  his 
hands.  If  the  Whigs  hated  it,  the  Garrisonians 
did  the  more  abundantly,  and  so  the  wars  within 
a  war  would  go  on.  Men  in  the  struggling  grasp 
of  a  common  great  enemy  will  still  find  time  to 
clutch  each  other's  throats  over  the  things  of 
means  and  leaderships.  This  many-cornered  war 
was  to  gather  strength  and  fierceness  till  every 
thing  was  hidden  and  lost  in  the  smoke  and  din  of 
the  battlefield,  no  longer  a  figure  of  speech. 

Much  important  matter  occurring  in  congress 
must  be  passed  without  note.  Mr.  Slade  of  Ver 
mont,  early  in  the  twenty-sixth  congress,  presented 
his  memorials  against  slavery  in  the  District  of 
Columbia,  which  caused  the  southern  representa 
tives,  under  Mr.  Wise,  to  withdraw  in  a  body  from 
the  house — the  first  secession.  Mr.  Giddings  en 
tered  this  congress.  It  was  the  one  during  which, 
under  the  lead  of  Atherton,  inspired  by  Calhoun, 
slavery  secured  the  adoption  of  the  famous  twenty- 
first  rule,  which  sent  everything  touching  slavery 
to  the  tomb  of  the  table  without  a  word.  Those 
were  the  days  when  the  ponderous  Lewis  of  Ala 
bama  left  the  house  to  inspect  "coffles  of  slaves" 
from  Maryland,  halted  in  front  of  the  east  portico 
for  that  purpose,  and  the  hall  of  representatives  was 
the  scene  of  constantly  recurring  disorder,  caused 
by  the  brutal  violence  of  southern  members,  under 


B.   F.    WADE.  161 

provocations  of  Mr.  Adams  and  Mr.  Giddings. 
The  "Amistad  case,"  so  productive  of  abolition 
sentiment,  had  arisen,  and  other  things  of  the  same 
tendency.  The  new  Whig  President  called  a  spec 
ial  session  of  the  twenty-seventh  congress,  was 
himself  called,  and  left  his  party  to  go  to  pieces, 
under  the  unexpected  exigencies  flowing  from  his 
absence,  and  its  utter  inability  to  deal  with  the 
new  questions,  thence  to  be  an  abiding  presence 
till  slavary  should  disapear.  The  twenty-seventh 
congress  saw  the  attempt  in  the  house  to  censure 
Mr.  Adams,  the  Creole  case,  the  censure  of  Mr. 
Giddings  for  his  platform  of  the  rights  of  slaves  on 
the  high  seas,  beyond  the  reach  of  slave  laws,  his 
resignation  and  triumphant  reelection,  followed  by 
his  Pacificus  letters.  The  close  of  the  congress  was 
the  publication  of  a  strong^address  on  the  aspects 
of  the  slavery  contest,  from  Mr.  Adams,  prepared 
by  Gates,  and  bearing  the  names  of  twenty  Whig 
representatives,  including  that  of  J.  R.  Giddings, 
S.  J.  Andrews,  Slade  and  Gates.  Its  immediate 
purpose  was  to  warn  against  the  annexation  of 
Texas  ;  its  influence  extended  much  farther.  A 
hasty  treaty  for  that  purpose  was  patched  up  by 
Mr.  Calhoun,  who  had  succeeded  Mr.  Webster, 
Le  Gaire  and  Upshur  in  the  state  department, 
and  summarily  killed  by  Mr.  Benton  in  the  senate. 
Meantime  Mr.  Clay,  whose  contemptuous  treatment 
of  President  Tyler  caused  much  of  the  trouble  be 
tween  that  worthy  and  the  men  who  elevated  him, 
brought  forward  his  propositions  of  policy,  made 


1 62  B.  F.    WADE. 

his  retiring  speech,  resigned  and  awaited  in  serene 
security  his  call  to  the  Presidency.  He  had  al 
ready  received  Mr.  M-endenhall's  Quaker  petition 
for  the  emancipation  of  his  slaves,  and  made  that 
insolent  reply  which,  with  his  letter  against  Texas 
annexation,  made  his  call  sure.  Their  united  ef 
fect  on  his  election  was  another  thing.  He  was 
placed  in  nomination  May  I,  1844,  by  acclamation, 
at  Baltimore. 

The  Democratic  convention  assembled  in  the 
same  city  on  the  twenty-seventh  of  May.  Mr. 
Van  Buren  was  largely  the  choice  of  the  Demo 
cratic  party.  Mr.  Cass  would  be  a  candidate,  and 
was.  The  Democrats  were  also  more  largely  in 
favor  of  the  annexation  of  Texas  ;  Mr.  Van  Buren 
had  written  a  letter  against  it.  The  convention 
adopted  a  former  rule,  requiring  a  two-thirds  vote 
to  nominate.  On  the  first  ballot,  146  were  cast 
for  Mr.  Van  Buren.  83  for  Cass  and  37  scatteringly. 
On  the  eight,  Mr.  Van  Buren  104,  Cass  144  and 
J.  K.  Polk  44  ;  Mr.  Polk  was  unanimously  nomi- 
ated  on  the  ninth  with  a  resolution  demanding 
Texas  and  Oregon  to  54  degrees  and  40  minutes. 
The  convention  dispersed. 

No  more  conspicuous  figure  has  ever  appeared 
in  American  political  history,  none  so  grand  and 
really  imposing  as  Henry  Clay.  Lofty,  magnani 
mous,  far-seeing,  intensely  American,  creative, 
chivalrous,  of  unsulied  fame,  an  eloquence  of  the 
rarest  excellence  and  power  ;  none  ever  before  or 
since,  secured  the  love  and  devotion  of  so  many 


B.  F.    WADE.  163 

men,  and  men  of  diverse  opinions,  habits  and  pur 
suits.  No  American  statesman  has  yet  connected 
his  name  with  so  many  and  such  important  meas 
ures,  due  only  to  causes  arising  in  the  scope  of 
the  ordinary  political  necessities  of  a  progressive 
people.  He  in  his  youth  was  an  Emancipationist. 
He  came  too  early  to  have  his  fine  impulses  lit  and 
fanned  to  flame  by  the  later  arising  spirit  which 
inspired  the  great  upheaval. 

The  admirers  of  an  exceptionally  brilliant  poli 
tician  of  our  day  are  fond  of  running  parallels  be 
tween  him  and  Henry  Clay.  They  may  be  exhib 
ited  on  the  same  canvas  by  contrasts  ;  one  will 
live,  the  other's  place  is,  perhaps,  undetermined. 

The  contest  of  1844  was  next  the  preceding,  the 
most  sharply  contested  of  the  national  canvasses 
to  that  time,  its  consequences  infinitely  more  im 
portant  than  those  of  that.  Incidentally,  great  but 
unintended  help  was  given  to  the  anti-slavery  cause 
in  the  thorough  discussion  of  the  Texas  issue.  It 
would  be  curious  to  note  how  Whig  blows  against 
that  helped  to  demolish  the  Whig  party. 

No  man  in  Ohio  was  more  zealous  and  effective 
than  Frank  Wade  in  the  advocacy  of  Mr.  Clay's 
election.  He  was  the  first  man  in  public  life 
of  his  state,  as  will  be  remembered,  to  take 
ground  against  Texas  annexation  in  the  Ohio  sen 
ate.  He  gave  quite  his  entire  time  and  strength 
to  this  canvass.  None  were  more  sorely  disap 
pointed  by  the  result.  Never  was  there  such 


1 64  B.  F.    WADE. 

widespread  heart-break  occasioned  by  the  result  of 
a  Presidential  election  as  that  of  1844.*  Of  the 
popular  vote,  Polk  received  1,337,243  ;  Clay, 
1,299,068. 

Another  power  is  now  to  be  taken  account  of. 
At  this  same  election  James  G.  Birney  received 
62,300.  These  defeated  Mr.  Clay  and  made  our 
subsequent  history  possible. 

Nothing  is  more  profitless  than  speculation  of 
what  might  have  been,  if  the  actual  were  not. 
Seemingly,  the  election  of  Mr.  Clay  would  have 
postponed  the  crisis  of  1861  to  the  next  century. 
It  came  none  too  soon — is  over.  Let  us  be  com 
forted. 

Great  events  crowded  each  other  under  the  in 
fluence  of  the  Democratic  success.  The  Texas  ten 
million  bill  bought  its  way  through  congress. 
President  Tyler  approved  it,  and  Texas  was  an 
nexed.  .  Among  Mr.  Folk's  first  acts  was  to  dis 
patch  General  Taylor  'across  the  old  Spanish  Texas 
into  Mexico,  stopping  only  at  the  Rio  Grande, 
which  the  Mexicans  crossed,  and  fought  the  first 
battles  of  that  fateful  war — with  discussions  in 
congress  of  the  Wilmot  proviso,  ultimate  annexa 
tion,  which  brought  in  California,  gold,  and  the 
exclusion  of  slavery  from  the  new  state.  Preceding 
these  was  the  adjustment  of  our  Oregon  boundary 
with  England.  Fiercely  the  Democrats  clamored  for 
the  whole.  Mr.  Adams  and  Mr.  Giddings  frightened 

*  The  author,  an  ardent  young  Whig  of  twenty-seven,  was  more  de 
pressed  at  the  result  than  by  the  death  of  his  hero,  General   Harrison. 


B.  F.  WADE.  165 

them  out  of  it  with  a  threat  of  war  with  Great 
Britain,  in  which,  as  Mr.  Adams  claimed,  a  general 
at  the  head  of  an  army  could  liberate  all  the  slaves, 
as  a  military  measure,  while  Giddings  appalled  them 
with  pictures  «of  slave  insurrections  in  the  presence 
of  the  British  forces.  No  time  was  spared.  Mr. 
Polk  made  haste  to  conclude  a  treaty,  by  which  the 
Democracy  shrunk  to  the  forty-ninth  parallel. 

At  the  Whig  convention  of  1848,  General  Tay 
lor  was  nominated  for  the  Presidency  over  Clay, 
Webster  and  Scott — a  signal  for  the  first  large 
secession  from  the  Whig  party  in  various  sections 
of  the  north. 

In  Ohio  a  young  Whig  lawyer  of  the  Giddings- 
Wade  school  called  a  convention  over  his  own  name> 
at  Chardon,  of  those  opposed  to  the  Whig  nom 
ination.  The  result  was  such,  that  similar  conven 
tions  followed  in  each  of  the  Reserve  counties, 
and  the  party  in  Ohio  ceased  to  be  potential. 

Mr.  Cass  was  nominated  by  the  Democratic 
convention  of  May  22,  at  Baltimore.  The  Wilmot 
proviso  delegation  of  New  York  bolted.  This 
gave  the  Van  Burens  an  opportunity  to  avenge 
on  Cass  their  wrongs  of  1844.  Under  the  -name 
of  "  Barn  Burners,"  derived  from  the  Patroon 
war  of  their  state,  they  united  with  the  Free-soil 
party  of  that  year,  and  placed  the  elder  Van 
Buren  in  nomination  for  the  presidency  also. 
What  a  campaign  was  that !  Mr.  Seward  and 
John  Van  Buren — Prince  John — were  both  on  the 
Reserve.  Of  the  popular  vote  General  Taylor 


1 66  B.  A    WADE. 

received  1,360,163,  Cass  1,220,544  and  the  Free- 
soil  candidate  291,262.* 

Ohio  was  left  without  a  dominant  majority  in 
the  legislature,  and  her  capital  given  over  to  mis 
rule  for  a  time.  Mr.  Giddings  became  a  Free- 
soil  leader.  His  course  cost  him  a  seat  in  the 
senate.  A  coalition  of  Free-soilers  and  Demo 
crats  placed  Salmon  P.  Chase  in  the  senate,  and 
launched  him  on  a  great  national  career*  Oppor 
tunity  always  comes  to  such  men.  Perhaps  Mr. 
Giddings'  place  was  really  in  the  house,  f 

Mr.  Wade,  as  will  be  remembered,  was  elected 
judge  in  1847,  which  withdrew  him  from  partici 
pation  in  the  many-angled  contest  of  1848,  though 
he  was  known  to  adhere  persistently,  obstinately, 
to  the  Whig  party,  to  the  grief  of  many  admiring 
friends,  who  but  half  knew  him.  It  may  be  a 
problem  whether  those  who  withdrew  from  it 
could  not  as  well  have  served  the  paramount 
cause  by  remaining  in  it.  Certainly  in  the  case 
of  Mr.  Wade,  it  left  him  in  a  position  where  the 
men  who  refused  to  vote  for  Mr.  Giddings  for  the 

*  '1  he  author  voted  for — he  does  not  care  to  name  him. 

\  He  had  richly  earned  the  promotion,  if  such  it  is.  He  was  the 
unanimous  nominee  of  the  Free-soil  organization,  consisting  of  eleven. 
The  Whigs,  with  the  persistent  stupidity  which  preceded  the  death 
they  merited,  refused  to  aid  his  election.  This  enabled  and  justified 
Mr.  Townsend  to  enter  into  an  arrangement  by  which  the  Democrats 
aided  in  the  election  of  Mr.  Chase.  The  position  of  the  author  has 
not  the  slightest  historical  importance.  He  voted  for  Mr.  Giddings 
till  the  Whigs  demonstrated  their  inequality  to  their  opportunity, 
when  he  notified  his  Free-soil  associates  that  if  Mr.  Chase  failed  on 
the  pending  ballot,  he  should  vote  for  him  at  the  next.  Mr.  Chase 
was  elected  on  that  pending  ballot. 


B.   f.    WADE.  167 

senate,  gladly   conferred  their  united  suffrage  on 
him. 

He  doubtless  chafed  under  the  decorous  re 
straints  of  his  judicial  position,  which  held  him 
from  the  political  tribune — restraints  which  he 
regarded  as  suspended,  by  one  great  event,  in  the 
history  I  am  so  imperfectly  outlining.  The  winter 
of  1849-50  was  memorable  in  congress  as  that  of 
Mr.  Clay's  omnibus  bill — the  sUm  of  his  great 
compromises,  where  as  usual  the  concessions 
seemed  to  us  all  on  one  side.  It  was  a  session  of 
great  debates  in  the  senate,  between  Mr.  Clay 
and  Colonel  Benton,  whose  great  difference  was 
mainly  whether  the  republic  should  be  given  up 
to  one  huge  monster,  with  one  maw  and  many 
mouths,  or  several  equally  voracious,  small, 
with  each  its  own  maw.  Mr.  Benton  prevailed. 
That,  too,  was  the  session  of  the  fall  of  Mr. 
Webster — for  fall  it  was. 

The  passage  of  the  fugitive  slave  act  found 
Judge  Wade  holding  court  at  Ravenna.  All  men 
heard  it  with  equal  detestation  and  horror.  A 
public  meeting  was  called  at  the  court  house.  On 
being  approached,  he  expressed  his  entire  willing 
ness  to  address  it.  Timid  friends  would  dissuade 
him.  He  brushed  them  by  and  delivered  a  pow 
erful  phillipic  against  it.  That  this  was  not  out  of 
place  nor  out  of  character  is  apparent  when  it  is 
remembered  that,  within  less  than  a  year,  his 
judicial  career  and  character  received  the  thought 
ful  consideration  and  approval  of  the  ablest  and 


1 68  B.  F.    WADE. 

best  men  of  the  bar,  already  quoted.  Now,  after 
this  long  retrospect  and  these  many  pages,  the 
time  is  at  hand  when  the  senator  will  take  his 
place.  We  will  certainly  attend  him  to  Wash 
ington.^ 


CHAPTER  VII. 

The  Capital  in  1851. — Population  and  Character.— Congressional 
Life.— The  Thirty-second  Congress.— The  Senate.— The  House.— 
The  New  Senators. — Pen  Sketches. — Places  on  Committees. — 
Compromises  of  1850-51. — A  Final  Settlement. — Fillmore-Corwin. 
— Wade's  Speech  on  the  Collins  Subsidy.- — General  Cass. — Election 
of  1852. — Conventions. — Candidates. — Clay  and  Webster.— Choat. 
—The  Free-soil  Party.— The  Popular  Vote.— Thirty-third  Con 
gress. — New  Senators. — Pierce's  Message. — Nebraska. — Kansas. — 
Douglas-Chase-Wade  Speeches. — Bill  Passes  the  Senate. — Passes 
the  House.— The  Vote.— The  Globe. 

WASHINGTON  had  been  the  capital  since  1800. 
At  the  time  thus  taken  possession  of  by  the  gov 
ernment,  save  the  little  corporation  of  George 
town,  the  Maryland  side  of  the  Potomac  was  an 
unpeopled  region.  It  was  soon  occupied  by  folk 
who  were  drawn  thither  to  become  the  tavern  and 
boarding-house  keepers,  livery  and  hackmen,  the 
servants  and  boot-blacks,  market-men  and  small 
shopkeepers,  of  the  office-holders  and  employes  of 
the  government,  the  waiters,  servants  and  lackeys 
of  senators  and  members  of  the  house,  and  the 
visitors  of  the  home  and  residence  of  what  made 
the  state  the  visible  government  of  the  great  Re 
public — their  incomes  derived  wholly  from  the 
personal  expenditures  of  congressmen  and  govern- 
169 


170  B.  F.    WADE. 

ment  employes.  In  any  estimate  of  the  city,  this 
origin  of  its  population  is  not  wholly  to  be  lost  sight 
of  even  now.  At  the  time  it  became  the  senatorial 
residence  of  Mr.  Wade,  the  district  had  a  popula 
tion  of  forty  thousand.  Of  this,  fifteen  thousand 
were  colored,  including  about  three  thousand 
slaves,  reckoning  every  human  being  supposed  to 
have  a  tincture  of  servile  blood.  On  Seventh 
street,  at  the  margin  of  the  malaria-breathing 
canal,  was  the  slave-pen  and  persuasive  whipping 
post,  in  full  sight  of  the  capital.  This  found  its 
counterpart  in  the  city  prison,  on  the  northeast 
corner  of  Judiciary  square.  The  Maryland  slave 
code  was  in  force,  and  a  more  unlovely  and  un 
wholesome  town  did  not  exist  in  the  civilized  world 
than  the  city  which  straggled  up  and  down  the  left 
bank  of  the  Potomac  calling  itself  Washington. 
The  capitol  was  the  older  structure  with  its  ancient 
dome.  The  foundations  of  the  new  house-wing 
were  laid  in  1850;  the  senate  chamber  was  the  pres 
ent  supreme  court  room.  The  then  hall  of  the 
house  is  now  given  over  to  the  effigies,  in  mar 
ble  or  bronze,  of  the  great  men  of  the  states, 
two  and  two,  as  the  present  generation  may 
elect.  Congressional  and  social  life  at  the  capital 
were  not  then  what  they  now  are.  It  was  then 
much  more  to  be  a  member  of  congress.  It  cost 
much  less  money  and  more  brains.  American 
colossal  fortunes  did  not  then  exist.  Journalism, 
railroading,  telegraphy,  were  in  their  infancy. 
The  capital  had  few  attractions  save  to  politicians, 


B.  F.    WADE.  171 

few  visitors,  and  sojourners  of  the  wealthy,  who 
sought  it  as  a  social  centre.  A  very  few  senators, 
and  rarely  a  member  of  the  house,  had  their 
families  with  them  at  Washington.  They  formed 
' 'messes,"  lived  in  boarding-houses,  in  the  kind 
of  he  way  that  men  will,  severed  from  the  ties, 
influences,  and  it  may  be  added,  restraints  of  home 
and  home  life.  A  more  dreary,  unattractive  state, 
for  a  cultured  man  of  social  instincts  and  habits, 
nowhere  was  endured,  than  that  of  the  average 
congressman  of  the  time  of  Mr.  Wade's  advent  at 
Washington.  He  suffered  less  by  it  than  did 
many — most  of  the  men  of  his  time. 

Members  of  congress  then  received  eight  dollars 
per  day,  counting  all  the  days  of  the  week,  and  a 
liberal  mileage  by  any  roundabout  route.  They 
provided  also  for  perquisites,  in  the  way  of 
stationery  and  cutlery,  and^ enjoyed  the  franking 
privilege — so  long  the  target  of  Horace  Greeley's 
assaults. 

' .  Mr.  Wade  fixed  himself  in  Mrs.  Hyatt's  boarding 
house,  on  the  south  side  of  Penns)Hvania  avenue, 
between  Sixth  and  Seventh  streets,  jvest  of  the 
capitol,  where  I  found  him  in  l86l.*^j 

The  Thirty-second  congress  convened  December 
I,  1851,  when  Frank  Wade  entered  upon,  became 
a  part  of,  that  public  life  of  which  he  had  before, 
with  the  mass  of  men,  only  read  and  heard.  Of 
the  three  greatest  American  senators,  Calhoun  died 

*  East,  west,  north,   south  and  their  intermediates,  in  Washington 
directories,  mean  the  given  direction  from  the  capitol. 


172  B.  F.    WADE. 

the  year  before,  at  sixty-eight  ;  Webster,  of  the 
same  age,  born  in  1782,  left  the  senate  the  year 
Calhoun  died,  to  become  secretary  of  state  ;  Clay, 
in  many  ways  the  greatest  of  the  three,  born  in 
1777,  was  still  in  the  senate.  Can  any  one  explain 
the  law  by  which  great  men  come  in  groups  ? 

Wade's  old  foe  of  the  forum  in  the  collision 
trial  was  now  President  of  the  United  States,  step 
ping  to  the  place  by  the  death  of  Zachary  Taylor. 
He  favored  the  compromise  measures,  opposed 
Taylor's  administration,  and  placed  Webster  at 
the  head  of  his  cabinet,  with  Corwin  secretary  of 
treasury — of  all  men  not  a  financier,  and  to  that 
time  a  pronounced  anti-slavery  Whig,  as  Fillmore 
had  been.  In  1848  he  was  a  possible  President. 
Upon  the  passage  of  the  fugitive  slave  act  the 
President  referred  it  perfunctorily,  one  must  think, 
to  his  attorney-general,  John  Jordon  Crittenden 
(a  year  younger  than  Webster),  a  born  slave 
holder,  who  found  it  to  be  entirely  constitutional, 
and  he  signed  it — a  measure  decisive  of  his  political 
fate  as  of  that  of  his  financial  minister  and  many 
others. 

At  the  opening  of  the  senate  Mr.  Chase  presented 
the  credentials  of  Mr.  Wade,  and  he  was  sworn 
in.  He  was  then  fifty-one  years  old,  as  will  be 
remembered.  Mr.  Chase  was  forty-three  at  the 
time. 

The  old  senate  chamber  is  a  semi-circle.  The 
straight  side  its  eastern  wall,  at  the  centre  of  which 
was  the  vice-presidential  chair,  then  filled  by 


B.   F.    WADE.  173 

William  R.  King.  The  senators'  seats  were 
arranged  in  four  arcs  of  the  circle.  The  Whig 
side  was  the  left  of  the  President,  the  south  of  the 
chamber.  Mr.  Wade  took  one  of  the  innermost, 
the  second  from  the  left.  Mr.  Seward,  as  will  be 
remembered,  entered  the  senate  the  congress  be 
fore.  He  was  a  year  younger  than  Mr.  Wade. 
He  introduced  his  colleague,  Hamilton  Fish,  born 
the  same  year  with  Chase,  1808.  Charles  Sumner 
entered  the  senate  the  same  day.  He,  as  will  be 
remembered,  was  elected  by  a  coalition  of  the 
Free-soilers  and  Democrats,  after  a  long  and 
exciting  contest.  He  was  then  forty  years  old, 
and  was  introduced  by  General  Cass,  and  took  his 
seat  on  the  Democratic  side.  No  American  of  his 
time  had  been  so  favorably  received  in  England  as 
he  was,  unless  we  except  JN.  P.  Willis.  He  was 
always  English  in  his  air,  and  his  presence  pro 
duced  a  solitude.  Cass  was  then  sixty-nine.  Mr. 
Wade  now  saw  the  senators  together,  had  seen 
many  of  them  before.  In  glancing  around  the 
now  spacious  chamber,  Clay,  old,  worn,  and  feeble, 
like  a  dying  lion  still  kingly,  sat  in  the  outer  circle, 
almost  behind  him,  with  Seward  at  his  left. 
Following  that  circle  round  to  the  seat  next  the 
broad  corridor,  leading  from  the  front  entrance, 
his  eye  fell  on  the  compact,  squat,  jug-like  form 
of  Stephen  A.  Douglas,  with  his  large  head  and 
short  legs.* 

*  "  No,  sir;  no,  sir!     He  can  never  be   President,"  declared  posi 
tive  Colonel  Benton  ;  "his — (not  the  skirts  of  his  coat,  as  has  been 


174  B..  F.   WADE. 

The  Virginia  Mason,  captured  by  Commodore 
Wilkes,  with  Slidell,  a  few  years  later,  sat  con 
spicuous  on  the  Democratic  side — outer  circle. 
There  was  also  his  chief,  Jefferson  Davis,  with 
Henry  S.  Foote  for  colleague.  Next  Mason  sat 
Chase,  beyond  Chase,  Hannibal  Hamiin.  John 
Bell  of  Tennessee  was  there.  James  A.  Pearceof 
Maryland  sat  in  that  senate  a  Whig.  There,  too, 
was  Rhett  and  "Duke"  Gwin,  now  from  Cali 
fornia,  with  Ohio's  John  B.  VVeller,  whom  Ford 
beat  for  governor,  for  colleague.  John  P.  Hale 
had  a  seat  on  that  side  also.  Sam  Houston, 
gigantic,  rosy  and  handsome,  was  there,  as  were 
Hunter  and  honest  John  Davis,  Sumner's  col 
league.  Of  course  there  was  a  Bayard  from  Dela 
ware.  Pierre  Soule  was  there,  as  was  Jesse  D. 
Bright ;  so  was  Mangum,  with  Berrien  from 
Georgia.  It  was  an  exceptionally  able  body, 
even  for  the  American  senate,  and  an  abler  man 
than  Frank  Wade  would  be  slow  to  gain  recogni 
tion  and  make  position  for  himself  in  it — which  no 
man  did  in  one  congress  if  we  except  Seward, 
Chase"  and  Sumner.  A  full  senate  numbered  sixty- 
two.  Dividing  on  old  party  issues,  now  disap 
pearing,  there  was  a  decided  Democratic  majority. 

There  were  but  five  senators  certain  under  all 
conditions  to  oppose  slavery.  John  P.  Hale,  the 
hero  of  the  New  Hampshire  revolution  of  '45-6, 
and  elected  to  the  senate  in  1847,  at  the  age  of 

reported) — is  too  near  the  ground,   sir!"     Ben  ton   had  been  defeated 
for  the  senate  by  Henry  S.  Geyer. 


B.  F.    WADE.  175 

forty-one;  Seward,  Chase,  Sumner  and  Wade. 
Of  these,  Seward  and  Wade  were  pronounced 
Whigs.  Hale  had  been  a  Democrat,  as  was 
Chase,  though  he  supported  Harrison  in  1840. 
Sumner,  by  education  and  instinct,  was  a  W7hig. 
It  must  have  cost  the  Democrats  an  awful  strain 
to  vote  for  him,  as  it  certainly  did  their  brethren 
of  Ohio  to  vote  for  Chase,  f 

It  was  supposed  that  congress  now  convened  in 
a  period  of  universal  calm,  under  serene  skies,  on 
ground  never  again  to  be  agitated.  The  incipient 
struggle  of  the  forces  was  hushed  to  supposed 
perpetual  silence.  Slavery  triumphant,  the  en 
ergies  of  freedom  and  justice  were  tied  down  with 
the  spinnings  of  the  grim  congressional  spiders 
beyond  recovery. 

If  the  senate  was  exceptionally  able,  passing 
fifteen  or  twenty  names,  the  house  was  a  common 
place  crowd.  There  were  Stevens  and  Toombs 
from  Georgia,  Orr  of  South  Carolina,  Humphrey 
Marshall  and  Breckenridge  of  Kentucky,  Giddings, 
Cartter  and  Townsend  from  Ohio,  Clingman  from 
North  Carolina,  Andrew  Johnson  from  Tennessee, 
Thaddeus  Stevens  from  Pennsylvania,  Preston 
King  from  New  York,  Cleveland  from  Connecticut, 
Hibbard  from  New  Hampshire,  Robert  Rantoul 
and  Horace  Mann  from  Massachusetts.  The 

*j«  "  Here,  Lord,  I  give  myself  away, 

Tis  all  that  I  can  do," 

was  the  pious  exclamatory  quotation  of  devoted  Luther  Montfort, 
Democratic  representative  of  Darke  county,  when  he  cast  his  ballot  for 
Chase.  Darke  would  not  stand  it. 


176  B.  F.    WADE. 

caucuses  began  by  quarreling  over  the  compromise 
measures,  but  the  members  elected  Lynn  Boyd 
speaker  on  the  first  ballot.  Thaddeus  Stevens 
received  sixteen  votes,  the  radical  anti-slavery 
strength  of  that  body. 

The  two  houses  exchanged  messages  and  con 
gress  advised  the  President  of  its  readiness  to 
receive  executive  communications,  and  he  re 
sponded  with  his  second  annual  message. 

Mr.  Seward  had  supplanted  Mr.  Fillmore  in  the 
leadership  of  the  New  York  Whigs.  A  virtuous, 
upright  man,  the  handsomest  of  the  Presidents, 
Fillmore  was  not  without  ambition  ;  was  desirous 
of  succeeding  himself.  He  was  aware  that  a 
northern  man  must  do  more  for  the  south  than 
she  would  exact  from  one  of  her  own  sons,  to 
secure  her  favor.  It  is  probable,  had  General 
Taylor  lived,  the  compromise  measures  would  have 
been  defeated.  Mr.  Fillmore  began  b)'  opposing 
his  administration.  He  favored  and  approved  these 
measures,  and  his  first  annual  message  declared 
them  a  final  settlement.  Still  the  north  was 
restive;  the  new  slave  rendition  act  was  resisted, 
and  this  gave  him  a  coveted  opportunity  to  remind 
the  south  of  its  obligations  to  him.  The  message 
dealt — with  calm,  level  ability,  in  the  hum-drum 
style  of  state  papers — with  the  topics  of  the  time, 
and,  recurring  to  the  violations  of  the  fugitive  act, 
the  President  requoted  the  constitution,  and  went 
over  the  weary  corpse-strewn  way  of  the  vain 
argument  of  constitutional  obligation  and  duty,  in 


B.  F.    WADE.  177 

the  track  of  which  his  own  remains  were  soon  to 
rest  and  be  reviled.  He  again  declared  these 
measures  a  "  final  settlement." 

On  the  conclusion  of  his  papers'  reading,  Mr. 
Foote  of  Mississippi  introduced  a  resolution 
enumerating  these  measures,  declaring  that  they 
were  the  final  adjustment  of  the  several  matters 
and  things  involved  in  or  lying  under  them 
severally.  There  never  was  such  a  restless, 
unsettled,  unsettling  settlement. 

In  the  assignment  to  committees — a  work  of 
the  senators — it  is  curious  now  to  note  the  dispo 
sition  made  of  the  anti-slavery  men  by  the  Demo 
cratic  majority.  Mr.  Seward  was  last  on  that 
of  commerce,  Mr.  Chase  second  on  revolutionary 
claims,  Mr.  Hale  at  the  end  of  private  land  claims, 
Mr.  Sumner  was  the  tail-piece  of  Revolutionary 
claims,  as  of  roads  and  canals ;  Mr.  Wade  was 
also  appended  to  two — agriculture  and  claims. 
One  recognizes  the  fitness  of  placing  both  Chase 
and  Sumner  on  revolutions.  One  does  not  now 
care,  save  historically,  what  posts  were  assigned 
to  the  slavery  leaders.  Mason  had  the  foreign 
relations,  Douglas  the  second  on  this  committee, 
and  was  chairman  on  territories — a  sadly  over 
estimated  man  by  his  fellows.  Intrepid,  audac 
ious,  unscrupulous,  he  will  be  remembered  as  the 
breaker  of  the  Missouri  wall  against  slavery,  when 
through  the  breach  thus  made  rushed  the  border 
ruffians  and  all  that  followed.  Soule  had  agricul 
ture,  Shields  the  army  and  District  of  Columbia 


i;8  B.  F.    WADE. 

— paddy  that  he  was  ;  Gwin  the  navy,  Atchinson 
the  Indians,  Butler  of  South  Carolina  the  judiciary, 
Bright  the  roads  and  canals,  Houston  looked  after 
the  militia,  and  the  others  had  second  places. 
The  rule  is,  the  majority  take  the  first  and  larger 
share  of  the  places.  Mr.  Chase  was  a  pronounced 
Democrat,  as  was  Mr.  Hale.  The  violence  against 
decent  usage  in  their  cases  marks  the  estimate 
of  them  as  anti-slavery  men.  The  judiciary  is. 
a  leading  committee  of  the  senate,  next  in 
importance  to  the  foreign  relations.  The  senate 
was  then  strong  in  able  lawyers  ;  the  Whig,  Berrien 
of  Georgia,  was  the  only  good  lawyer  on  it — 
whatever  may  be  said  of  Butler  the  hero  of 
Suinner's  famous  phillipic  later. 

Considering  the  treatment  of  his  colleagues  and 
friends,  Mr.  Wade  had  no  cause  of  complaint.  He 
was  in  his  seat,  had  his  place,  would  quietly  and 
silently  study  his  fellows,  correct  his  impressions, 
let  men  find  him  out  as  they  might,  and  bide  his. 
days  of  usefulness — not  of  display,  this  self  reticent 
descendant  of  the  Bradstreets,  Dudleys,  Wiggles- 
worths,  this  son  of  Mary  Upham,  born  in  the 
bosom  of  the  Feeding  Hills  of  the  Puritans. 

He  and  Seward  had  met  before.  Seward  was 
fairly  the  coming  man.  Then  slim,  with  marked 
head  and  face,  suave,  a  philosopher  rather  than  a 
man  of  action,  he  had  a  large  personal  following.. 
The  two  senators  at  once  became  fast  friends  ;  each 
did  full  justice  to  the  fine,  strong  qualities  of  the 
other. 


B.  F.   WADE.  179 

[The  coalition  by  which  Chase  entered  the  senate 
loslr  him  the  confidence  of  Wade,  as  of  all  the  older 
Whigs  of  Ohio.  It  lost  him  the  one  chance  he 
might  have  had  for  the  Presidency.  For  Wade 
there  was  a  suspicion  of  arrogance,  a  flavor  of 
sham,  in  the  grand  assumption  of  the  splendid 
Sumner.  He,  too,  came  in  by  a  Democratic  coa 
lition.  Neither  he  or  Chase  ever  had  a  personal 
following.  Each  was  surrounded  by  worshiping 
young  men  and  old  sycophantss  to  whom  conde 
scension  was  grateful.  Neither  had  many  intimates 
of  their  own  age  and  rank.  Chase  had  fine  social 
qualities  ;  could  inspire  warm  attachments.  Sum 
ner  seemed  to  care  for  neither,  Most  men  at 
each  interview  with  him  had  to  tell  him  who  and 
what  they  were.  Some  grew  weary  of  that. 
Each  had  great  personal  advantages,  and  were  the 
most  striking  of^the  still  youthful  figures  of  the 
senate  chamber. 

Wade  already  knew  Hale,  who  had  all  the  qual 
ities  of  good-fellowship — a  handsome  personable 
figure,  rosy  cheeked,  with  fancy  and  dash  then  at 
his  best,  he  lacked  the  patient,  persistent  industry 
to  realize  the  possibilities,  the  promise  and  proph 
ecy,  which  attended  his  footsteps.  He  and  our 
senator  became  well  attached  friends,  remained 
such  after  the  decline  of  Hale's  popularity  and 
efforts  to  sustain  himself,  and  Wade  had  become 
one  of  the  most  prominent  senators. 

Congress  is  about  the  last  body  which  should 
ever  deal  with  private  claims.  It  is  in  no  sense, 


i So  B.  F.    WADE. 

by  function  or  temper,  judicial;  is  without  the 
means  of  verifying  facts.  Under  the  care,  skill 
and  industry  of  Elisha  Whittlesey,  chairman  of  the 
house  claims  committee,  dealing  with  them  was 
reduced  to  something  like  system,  and  his  methods 
were  respected  in  the  senate.  Succeeding  to  his 
seat,  Mr.  Giddings  succeeded  him  at  the  head  of 
the  committee,  and  carried  forward  the  business 
on  his  lines  until  formally  deposed  by  his 
pro-slavery  enemies.  Mr.  Wade,  the  partner  of 
the  one  and  pupil  of  the  other,  with  his  legal  and 
judicial  ability,  though  last  of  his  committee,  in 
labor,  skill  and  usefulness,  became  in  a  single 
session  quite  the  first.  It  was  a  post  where  a  man 
can  do  more  work,  render  more  real  service,  and 
gain  less  reputation,  perhaps,  than  in  any  other 
senatorial  position. 

\  There  was  one  case  coming  from  the  house  not 
referred  to  him,  characteristic  of  the  times  and  the 
dominant  party,  growing  out  of  the  old  Seminole 
war.  It  seems  that  certain  Creek  warriors,  serving 
in  the  Georgia  contingent,  captured  some  runaway 
slaves  —  maroons  —  and  claimed  them  as  spoil. 
To  save  them  for  their  owners,  really,  General 
James  C.  Watson,  a  Georgia  general,  advanced 
fourteen  thousand  dollars  and  more  to  buy  them 
of  the  Creeks,  and  it  was  to  pay  his  heirs  this 
advance  and  interest  on  it  that  this  bill,  in  spite 
of  Gidding's  war  in  the  house  upon  it,  was  pend 
ing  in  the  senate.  Chase  thoroughly  understood 
it,  and  when  Dawson  of  Georgia  called  it  up,  he 


B.  F.    WADE.  181 

declared  his  purpose  of  debating  it.  It  was  laid 
over  and  should  have  come  up  on  Friday — private 
bill  day.  In  his  absence  it  was  called  up.  Wade 
made  an  earnest  effort  to  have  it  take  the  usual 
course,  seconded  by  Sumner,  so  that  his  colleague 
could  be  present.  This  was  refused,  and  the  bill 
passed  without  discussion."  j 

^Wade's  only  set  speech  of  the  first  session  was 
in  opposition  to  the  Collins  subsidy  for  carrying 
the  United  States  mails  between  New  York  and 
Liverpool.  He  evidently  thoroughly  understood 
the  subject,  and  dealt  with  it  in  his  direct  western 
way.  General  Cass,  still  sore  from  his  defeat  by 
General  Taylor,  had  made  a  speech  it  its  favor, 
was  especially  worried  by  Wade's  reference  to  his 
"noise  and  confusion"  speech  at  Cleveland, 
made  in  response  to  an  injudicious  remark  of  Judge 
Reuben  Wood,  and  insisted  on  an  explanation,  to 
which  Wade  good-naturedly  yielded.  It  availed 
him  nothing.  He  and  his  party  were  taunted  with 
fifteen  years  of  utter  neglect  of  the  lakes  and 
rivers,  and  interposed  again.  He  finally  promised 
to  vote  for  a  properly  framed  bill  for  these 
improvements,  knowing  full  well,  as  Wade  told 
him,  that,  under  his  party  management,  no  bill 
for  such  a  purpose  would  ever  be  seen  or  heard 
of.  The  speech  was  a  compact,  vigorous  state 
ment  of  the  whole  question,  from  a  western  sena 
tor,  sore  under  the  chronic  neglect  of  his  section, 
and  rapidly  growing  to  strength  and  power  to  care 
for  itself.  It  was  riot  only  impressive  upon  the 


1 82  B.  F.    WADE. 

question,  but  made  a  good  impression  in  the  sen 
ator's  favor.  Reticent,  alway  seen  in  his  seat,  not 
before  heard  save  for  a  terse  statement  or  sen 
tentious  explanation. 

The  provision  passed,  authorizing  twenty-six 
trips  per  year,  at  $33,000  per  trip,  approved 
August  25,  1852.*  That  session  ended  six  days 
later.  It  was  comparatively  an  unimportant  ses 
sion.  Its  perfected  labors  fill  four  thousand  and 
forty-seven  pages  of  the  thribble-columned  Globe. 
It  produced  three  large  volumes  of  that  tumid 
work.  There  were  notable  debates  of  the  finished, 
completed,  settled  work  of  the  last  congress,  in 
which  leading  men  took  part  in  both  houses.  In 
the  senate,  Cass,  Chase,  Foote,  Hale,  Mason, 
Rhett  and  others.  Mr.  Sumner  occupies  much 
space  in  the  Globe  of  that  year.  The  compromise 
measures  early,  the  fugitive  slave  act  later.  Mr. 
Seward  remained  silent  upon  the  great  and  greatly 
settled  slavery  issues.  This  was  the  year  of  Kos- 
suth's  advent.  Foote  introduced  a  resolution  the 
first  day  of  the  session  to  provide  a  fitting  wel. 
come,  on  which  all  the  group  of  five,  save  Wade, 
were  heard. 

The  great  Clay  died  the  twenty-ninth  of  June, 
and  though  the  new  issues  had  brought  his  just 
fame  under  eclipse  for  the  day,  the  Republic  will 
cherish  his  memory  as  one  of  its  most  valuable 
possessions. 

The  first  session  of  a  congress   is  alway  long. 

*  Subsidies  for  foreign  mails  were  then  Democratic. 


B.  F.    WADE.  183 

The  constitution  limits  the  second.  Usually  as 
much  real  legislative  work  is  accomplished  by  the 
second.  The  perfected  laws  in  the  second  were 
larger  in  bulk  than  the  first,  the  most  of  which, 
however,  -were  largely  the  work  of  the  earlier 
session.  It  is  to  be  remembered  that  while  the 
senate  is  in  a  way  a  continuing  body,  congress  is 
not,  and  that  all  unfinished  business  falls  at  the 
end  of  the  final  session,  not  to  be  resumed  by  the 
succeeding  congress,  unless  introduced  by  new 
bills.  Congress  has  never  invented  a  method  of 
bridging  the  intervening  chasm  and  saving  itself 
much  real  and  perfunctory  labor  and  the  Republic 
much  expense. 

The  second  session  was  a  quiet  period.  It 
mourned  the  death  of  the  great  Webster  and  re 
spectable  Upham.  Mr.  Wade  had  a  notable 
contest  over  a  private  claim,  carrying  it  through 
against  Mr.  Broadhead,  his  chairman.  Nobody 
debated  the  compromise  measures  at  that  session. 
The  Whigs,  meantime,  had  been  beaten  in  the 
Presidential  election.  Their  party  was  about  to 
disappear.  They  were  sober  and  subdued  ;  the 
victorious  Democrats  forbearing  and  silent.  Mean 
while  the  Galphin  and  Gardner  claims  had  made 
their  way,  and  Mr.  Corwin  was  to  be  investigated, 
and  with  the  addition  of  a  rather  swollen  Globe  and 
a  supplement,  that  commonplace  congress  quietly 
subsided.* 

*  Many  of  the  speaking  men  of  both  houses  revise  their  speeches  as 
they  run  through  the  Globe  presses.     This  was  the  habit  of  our  sena- 


1 84  B.  F.    WADE. 

Something  is  to  be  said  of  this  Presidential  elec 
tion  of  1852,  of  great  historical  significance,  and  in 
the  canvass  receiving  after  the  adjournment,  the 
entire  time  and  best  efforts  of  Mr.  Wade,  whose 
seat  in  the  senate  gave  him  added  influence.  The 
struggle  between  the  great  parties  was  for  the 
support  of  the  south. 

Reunited  and  confident  the  Democracy  met  in 
convention  at  Baltimore,  June  i,  1852.  Cass, 
though  seventy,  was  a  candidate,  as  was  Buchanan. 
Douglas,  not  yet  forty,  was  also  brought  forward, 
as  was  Marcy.  A  fear  of  the  old  dissensions  of 
his  state  was  fatal  to  the  best  man  then  prominent 
in  the  party.  "  Manifest  destiny,"  supposed  to  be 
a  doctrine  of  Douglas,  was  injurious  to  him. 
Buchanan  never  had  personal  popularity.  Cass 
was  old,  had  been  unfortunate.  Neither  could 
command  two-thirds  of  the  votes  under  the  inflex 
ible  rule.  This  condition  of  things  had  been  an 
ticipated  and  provided  for,  and  the  way  carefully 
prepared  for  a  purely  spontaneous  upheaval  for 
the  youthful  Pierce.  Caleb  Cushing  and  B.  F. 
Butler  had  the  credit  of  manipulating  this  move 
ment,  and  it  succeeded.  William  R.  King  was 
nominated  for  vice-president. 

The  platform  was  eminently  Democratic,  none 
ever  more  so.  It  fittingly  denounced  the  Aboli 
tionists  and  all  anti-slavery  men,  lauded  the  corn- 
tors.  Such  as  are  retained  for  more  leisurely  revision  are  collected  and 
presented  in  the  supplement.  This  volume  of  the  Globe  for  the  Thirty- 
second  congress  contains  none  of  the  labors  of  our  group. 


B.  F,   WADE.  185 

promise  measures  and  gave  the  fugitive  slave  act 
"honorable  'mention  "  by  name.  "The  Demo 
cratic  party  will  resist  all  attempts  at  renewing  in 
congress  or  out  of  it,  the  agitation  of  the  slavery 
question  under  whatever  shape  or  color  the  at 
tempt  may  be  made,"  was  its  unanimous  and  em 
phatic  declaration. 

Mr.  Pierce  was  forty-six  years  old,  handsome, 
accomplished,  plausible,  and  not  without  talent  in 
a  small  way  ;  had  served  in  the  house  and  in  the 
senate,  was  one  of  Folk's  political  generals.  That 
was  before  the  invention  of  favorite  sons.  He  was 
one  in  fact.* 

The  action  of  the  convention  was  everywhere, 
north  and  south,  hailed  with  Democratic  acclaim. 
The  sage  of  Lindenwold — what  a  state  New  York 
is  for  Democratic  sages!  Mr.  Van  Buren  was 
taken  to  the  Tammany  wigwam,  threw  himself 
with  abandon  into  the  embraces  of  his  whilom 
foes — forgiven  and  forgiving.  His  representatives> 
who  secured  his  nomination  at  Buffalo  four  years 
before,  were  some  of  them  in  the  Baltimore  con 
vention,  and  he  and  they  placed  unshod  rejoicing 
feet  on  its  platform. 

Two    weeks   after    the    nomination    of   General 

*  His  friend,  Nathaniel  Hawthorne,  wrote  a  campaign  life  of  him, 
and  had  the  Liverpool  consulate — certainly  the  best  thing  flowing  from 
his  elevation.  Mr.  Howells  performed  the  like  service  for  his  friend, 
in  1866,  and  received  the  Venetian  consulship.  I  always  thought  his 
much  the  better  work,  but  it  is  to  be  remembered  that  he  had  more  and 
better  material  to  go  on.  His  hero  certainly  never  fainted  in  presence 
of  the  enemy.  Both  works  were  fortunate  incidentally  for  American 
letters — safe  precedents  to  follow. 


1 86  B.  F.    WADE. 

Pierce,  the  Whigs  met  at  the  same  city  to  select 
their  candidates  and  declare  their  sentiments  and 
policy.  In  view  of  the  catastrophe  awaiting  them, 
to  look  back  at  now,  it  seems  as  if  their  assembly 
must  have  been  the  saddest  body  of  politicians 
•ever  convened.  Not  without  strength,  courage 
and  high  hope  did  they  meet.  Apparently  the 
party  was  strong  and  firm  at  the  south.  This 
canvass  was  to  demonstrate  that  there  was  a 
stronger  common  bond  uniting  that  south  than 
one  binding  its  people  to  any  party. 

The  convention  sat  continuously  five  days.  Mr. 
Webster,  Mr.  Fillmore  and  General  Scott  were 
the  candidates.  Of  course  the  President  and  his 
secretary  of  state  represented  exactly  the  same 
idea  and  issue.  Why  some  arrangement  was  not 
had  before  the  convention  sat,  is  a  mystery.  From 
the  tenacity  of  the  parties  in  the  convention,  this 
was  perhaps  impossible. 

General  Scott  was  the  candidate  of  the  anti- 
slavery  Whigs,  unpromising  as  he  was.  On  the 
first  ballot  Mr.  Webster  received  twenty-nine 
votes — the  largest  number  he  ever  received.  Mr. 
Fillmore,  one  hundred  and  thirty-one;  and  Gen 
eral  Scott  one  hundred  and  thirty-three;  showing 
an  apparent  ease  for  the  administration  to  control 
the  nomination.  Certainly  no  administration  ever 
occupied  such  a  position  before  a  convention  of  its 
own  party. 

Mr.  Clay  was  then  dying  in  Washington ;  as 
will  be  remembered,  did  die  a  few  days  later.  A 


B.  F.    WADE.  187 

letter  from  him  was  circulated,  urging  the  nomina 
tion  of  Mr.  Fillmore.  The  friends  of  Mr.  Web 
ster  were  a  good  deal  embittered  by  this  action  on 
his  part,  and  when  Mr.  W. 's  warm,  earnest,  steady 
support  of  Mr.  Clay,  in  1844,  is  remembered,  this 
seems  little  in  accordance  with  his  known  charac 
ter.  He  had  never  forgiven  Mr.  Webster  for 
adhering  to  John  Tyler,  and  in  a  way  shielding 
him  from  his  fierce  assaults  nine  and  ten  years 
before.  Unquestionably,  his  controlling  motive 
was  a  vindication  of  his  own  course  in  the  last 
congress.  To  have  nominated  any  one  but  the 
President,  would  not  have  been  a  vindication,  so 
dear  to  him  in  extremis. 

The  anti-slavery  Whigs,  under  Seward's  lead, 
could  not  be  won  to  support  the  President,  who 
had  no  votes  from  his  own  great  state.  Her  del 
egation  was  solid  against  him.  That  alone  would 
be  fatal.  The  marvel- working  Choate  was  at  the 
head  of  the  Massachusetts  delegation,  and  ex 
hausted  his  power  of  eloquence  and  persuasion  to 
secure  a  complimentary  vote,  one  pro  forma,  from 
the  southern  states,  for  the  great  expounder  who 
laid  down  his  life — all  his  lives  for  it.  The  charm 
was  powerless.  Not  a  man  responded.  •  A  crime 
never  atoned. 

So  the  struggle  went  on  until  the  fifty-third 
ballot,  when  Scott  was  nominated  with  William 
A.  Graham  of  North  Carolina  for  second. 

The  platform  in  substance  was  a  counterpart  of 
the  Democratic.  It  could  not  be  less.  It  specifi- 


1 88  B.  F.    WADE. 

cally  declared  the  compromise  measures  were  a 
settlement,  in  substance  and  principle,  of  the  great 
controversy,  including  the  fugitive  slave  act  by 
name,  and  as  such  accepted  by  the  Whig  party. 
That  its  acquiescence  was  essential  to  its  exist 
ence  as  a  national  party,  and  the  integrity  of  the 
Union. 

There  was  a  wide  and  general  admiration  of 
General  Scott;  his  nomination  produced  some 
enthusiasm,  and  for  the  few  first  weeks  the  Whigs 
were  not  without  much  hope  and  confidence. 
The  platform  everywhere  north  was  received  with 
derision  and  execration.  Horace  Greeley  delib 
erately  spat  upon  it.  Indeed,  spitting  on  their 
platform  by  the  Whigs  became  an  amusing  but 
not  a  healthy  exercise  for  them,  though  many  of 
them  did  little  else.  I  am  certain  Frank  Wade 
did  a  fair  share  of  that,  and  he  was  a  worker.  It 
was  fatal  to  them  at  the  south ;  an  attempt  to  run 
the  candidate  north  and  the  platform  south,  was 
never  so  purposely  attempted  before.  It  did  not 
work.  Neither  run  well  anywhere.  General  Scott 
carried  Kentucky  and  Tennessee  south,  and  Mass 
achusetts  and  Vermont  north.  Pierce  carried  all 
the  rest, 'with  two  hundred  and  fifty-four  electoral 
votes,  to  forty-two  for  his  opponent.  So  far  from 
giving  the  Whig  candidate  any,  the  least,  support, 
the  Whig  administration,  in  some  instances,  openly 
opposed  in  others  more  numerous,  secretly  be 
trayed  him. 

Mr.  Clay  died  without  the  coveted  approval  of 


B.  F.    WADE.  189 

his  party,  followed  by  his  greatest  rival  in  October. 
Mr.  Webster  was  profoundly  mortified  at  the 
result  of  the  convention,  and  it  was  very  generally 
supposed  that  the  melancholy  which  darkened  his 
closing  days  was  due  to  this  as  a  cause  and  helped 
to  lessen  their  number.* 

There  remains  an  important  part  of  the  Presi 
dential  election  to  be  mentioned.  The  Freesoil 
party  of  1848  and  the  Liberty  party  of  1840,  now 
merged,  had  tried  to  take  the  name  of  the  Free 
or  Independent  Democracy.  They  put  in  nomi 
nation  John  P.  Hale  for  President  and  George  W. 
Julian  for  vice-president.  They  made  a  vigorous, 
enthusiastic  campaign,  and  gave  156,000  votes  for 
them.  Of  these  Ohio  cast  31,682  ;  Massachusetts, 
28,023;  New  York,  25,329;  Illinois,  9,966  ;  Wis 
consin,  8,814;  Vermont,  8,621;  Pennsylvania, 
8,525;  Michigan,  7,237;  Tndiana,  6,929;  Con 
necticut,  3,160;  Iowa,  1,604;  Rhode  Island,  644 ; 
New  Jersey,  350;  Kentucky,  265  ;  California,  100; 
Delaware,  62,  and  Maryland,  54.  These  figures 
were  significant,  not  more  in  their  sum  total  than 
in  their  wide  diffusion,  sufficient  in  themselves  to 
secure  the  defeat  of  Scott  in  Ohio,  New  York, 
Illinois,  Wisconsin,  Maine,  Iowa  and  Connecticut, 
although  including  many  votes  of  Democrats. 

Seemingly  never  was  Democratic  power  so 
firmly  established,  arid  seemingly  on  such  secure 

*  Whoever  cares  to  see  an  elaborate,  brilliant  parallel  and  contrast 
of  these  great  men,  will  do  well  to  read  Mr.  Elaine's  striking  passages 
'Twenty  Years,  etc.,'  Vol.  I,  beginning  at  page  106. 


190  B.  F.    WADE. 

foundations.  Pierce's  total  was  1,601,478  ;  Scott's 
1,386,278;  majority  over  Scott  was  214,896;  over 
Scott  and  Hale  58,747.  An  examination  of  his 
majorities  in  the  southern  states  compared  with 
them  in  the  great  northern,  in  the  presence  of 
Hale's  vote,  will  show  how  deceptive  that  was, 
and  the  awful  significance  of  the  vote  for  Hale,  as 
also  the  effect  of  a  united  south  in  solidifying  a 
confronting  north.  Mr.  Pierce  placed  Mr.  Marcy 
at  the  head  of  his  cabinet ;  Mr.  Guthrie  had  the 
treasury,  Robert  McClelland  the  interior,  and 
Gushing,  who  had  been  a  Whig — a  John  Tyler 
man  and  now  a  Democrat* — was  attorney  general. 
One  may  fancy  the  meeting  of  Seward  and  Wade 
at  the  capitol  for  the  closing  session  of  the  current 
congress.  Seward  had  lost  New  York  only  by 
1,872  votes,  while  Hale  had  received  25,329, 
mostly  Whig.  Wade  had  seen  Ohio  go  for  Pierce, 
on  whom  he  had  been  bitterly  sarcastic,  by  16,695, 
and  cast  her  31,682  for  Hale.  They  had  much  in 
common,  and  there  was  great  suggestiveness  in 
these  figures  for  them.  Mr.  Seward,  politician 
and  a  statesman,  was  also  a  philosopher,  an 
inveterate  smoker,  and  found  solace  in  an  extra 
cigar.  Wade  was  a  moderate  smoker,  and  clothed 
himslf  in  pungent  and  sarcastic  sayings,  as  with  a 
garment,  for  the  benefit  of  the  successful  Democ 
racy.  Sumner  could  have  found  small  comfort  in 
Massachusetts'  eight  thousand  for  Scott  over  Pierce, 
though  much  hope  in  her  twenty-eight  thousand 

*  He  became  a  Republican  ultimately,  and  died  a  Democrat. 


B.   F.    WADE.  191 

for  Hale.  Chase  had  made  a  vain  effort  to  evan 
gelize  the  Democracy,  and  though  his  state  cast 
her  electoral  vote  for  his  nominal  candidate,  upon, 
the  promulgation  of  the  Democratic  platform  he 
wrote  a  strong  letter  to  his  friend  and  coadjutor  at 
the  Buffalo  convention — the  B.  F.  Butler  of  New 
York — repudiating  the  convention  and  its  doings, 
and  declared  his  purpose  of  adhering  to  the  prin 
ciples  there  set  forth.  This  severed  his  nominal 
connection  with  the  Democracy.  Of  our  five,  Mr. 
Hale  certainly  had  most  cause  for  self-congratu 
lation,  f 

Three  important  accessions  were  made  to  the 
senate  meantime,  John  M.  Clayton  of  Delaware, 
ranking  with  Cass,  Silas  Wright  and  Marcy  ; 
Robert  Toombs  of  Georgia,  swaggering,  assuming 
and  able — both  Whigs — and  Judah  Peter  Benjamin 
of  Louisiana,  able,  art/ul,  treacherous ;  later, 
Mr.  Davis'  secretary  of  state,  still  later  a 
subject  of  Queen  Victoria,  and  a  leader  of 
the  English  bar.J  Later  came  Edward  Everett 

-f*Mr.  Hale  and  Mr.  Giddings  met  some  of  the  younger  of  us  at 
Cleveland  immediately  after  our  state  election  of  that  year,  at  which  we 
elected  Edward  Wade— the  "  Ned  "  of  my  opening  papers— our  repre 
sentative  in  the  thirty-third  congress.  Mr.  Giddings  had  also  been 
re-elected,  and  a  great  dinner  in  the  open  air  was  tendered  him  by 
that  corner  of  Ohio,  at  Painesville,  immediately  after  the  election.  I 
drove  Mr.  Hale,  Mr.  Giddings  and  Mr.  Edward  Wade,  in  the  morning 
of  the  day,  from  Cleveland  over  the  ridge  road  to  Paineville.  I  had 
a  splendid  pair,  a  light  carriage,  the  road  hard  and  smooth,  the 
country  beautiful,  the  morning  one  out  of  Paradise.  I  was  still  young 
and  knew  horses.  It  was  a  drive,  a  ride,  a  day  never  to  be  forgotten. 

£  At  the  English  bar  he  not  only  became  famous  and  wealthy,  but  he 
contributed  a  learned  and  valuable  book  to  the  profession,  a  standard 


192  B.  F,   WADE. 

and  William  Pitt  Fessenden.  Mr.  F.  came  to  re 
main.  Everett's  time  would  be  limited.  Thomas 
Hart  Benton  reappeared  in  this  congress  as  a 
representative  in  the  house. 

Prince  Charming  sent  his  first  annual  message 
to  the  thirty-third  congress  on  its  second  day. 
Full  of  gay  promise,  he  declared  that  no  promi 
nence  should  be  given  to  any  subject  set  at  rest  by 
the  compromise  acts.  The  past  should  only  be 
recurred  to  for  admonition  and  wisdom.  ''That 
this  repose  is  to  suffer  no  shock  during  my  official 
term,  if  I  have  power  to  avert  it,  those  who  placed 
me  here  may  be  assured." 

This  was  December  6.  January^  Mr.  Douglas 
introduced  the  Nebraska  bill  "  and  all  our  woes." 
Mr.  Pierce's  supporters  had  large  majorities  in 
both  houses  !  What  did  he  mean  ? 

The  bill  did  not  in  terms  repeal  the  Missouri 
compromise  of  1820,  that  Mr.  Douglas  said,  in  his 
accompanying  report,  would  disturb  the  late  set 
tlement — nice  casuist!  He  did,  however,  report 
a  section  declaratory  of  the  meaning  of  his  bill. 
First,  all  questions  of  slavery  in  the  territories  and 
states  to  be  settled  by  the  inhabitants  ;  second,  all 
questions  involving  slavery  to  be  adjudged  by  the 
local  courts,  with  right  of  appeal  to  the  supreme 
court  of  the  United  States  ;  third,  the  fugitive 

work  on  sales  ;  a  Jew  of  the  Jews,  as  his  name,  qualities  and  push 
indicated ;  he  was  a  native  of  San  Domingo  and  then  forty-one  years 
old. 


B.  F.    WADE.  193 

slave  act  should  be  extended  to  the  territories. 
On  the  sixteenth  of  January,  Dixon,  Whig  sena 
tor  of  Kentucky,  gave  notice  that  he  would  move 
an  amendment  repealing  the  Missouri  compromise 
directly.  Of  course,  Mr.  Pierce  was  not  respon 
sible  for  him. 

Mr.  Douglas  was  not  inventive,  but  quick  to 
avail  himself  of  a  suggestion.  Some  one  advanced 
the  idea  that  the  compromise  of  1850  suspended 
that  of  1820.  Mr.  Douglas  seized  upon  this, 
brought  in  a  new  amendment  and  report,  based 
on  this  "new  and  useful"  discovery.  In  his 
amendment  occurs  the  famous  declaration — "this 
does  not  legislate  slavery  into  the  territory  or  out 
of  it, "etc. — which  Colonel  Benton  described  as  "a 
section  with  a  stump  speech  in  its  belly."  The 
amendment  divided  the  territory  into  Nebraska 
and  Kansas. 

The  American  world  took  alarm.  The  Free- 
soilers  were  the  first  to  take  effective  action. 
They  promptly  issued  one  of  the  ablest  addresses 
— terse,  compact,  vigorous — ever  issued  by  repre 
sentatives  to  a  constituency.  It  contains  internal 
evidence  of  being  largely  the  work  of  Mr.  Chase, 
written  with  the  aid  of  a  paper  prepared  by  Mr. 
Giddings,  whose  hand  is  very  apparent  in  it.  It 
was  signed  by  Giddings,  Chase,  Sumner,  Edward 
Wade  and  Gerret  Smith,  then  in  the  house,  and 
DeWitt  of  Massachusetts.  It  was  printed  in  every 
leading  paper  in  the  north,  and  fixed  public  opin- 


194  B.  F.   WADE. 

ion  unalterably  against  the  bill.  This  publication 
appeared  January  23  and  24.* 

Mr.  Pierce's  organ,  the  Union,  replied  that  the 
Democracy  were  resolved,  and  the  President  would 
provide  for  all  the  senators  and  representatives 
who  perished  in  this  cause. 

On  the  thirtieth  of  January,  the  day  named  to 
take  up  the  bill,  Mr.  Douglas,  in  stormy  wrath, 
fell  abusively  upon  Mr.  Chase  as  responsible  for 
the  address.  With  flashing  face  the  Ohio  senator 
confronted  and  threw  his  imputation  of  misconduct 
back.  Douglas  retorted  that  he  had  made  false 
statements.  The  president  called  him  to  order. 
Chase  said  he  should  be  answered.  Later,  Wade 
interrupted  him  and  he  answered  civilly.  His 
speech  was  an  arraignment  of  the  address  and  its 
authors. 

Mr.  Chase  arose  fully  wrought  up,  and  his  reply 
was  most  effective  and  happy.  It  appeared  that 
originally  the  address  was  intended  for  Ohio  only, 
and  in  its  then  form  was  signed  by  Senator  Wade. 
Before  issued,  its  originators  changed  the  form  and 
put  it  forth  as  from  the  Independent  Democrats, 
when  they  omitted  Mr.  Wade's  name.  Mr.  Wade 
arose  and  confirmed  this,  and  emphatically  indorsed 
every  word  of  it.  Mr.  Sumner  got  a  moment  to 
acknowledge  his  signature,  and  declared  his  pur 
pose  at  an  early  day  to  establish  its  entire  verity. 
Mr.  Seward  moved  the  adjournment  that  day. 

*  Mr.  Hale  had  lost  his  seat  and  was  in  New  York  city  practicing; 
law. 


B.  F.    WADE.  195 

There  was  spirited  and  angry  exchange  of  person 
alities  between  the  Ohio  and  Illinois  senators  the 
next  day,  in  which  both  were  called  to  order. 
Whatever  may  have  been  their  relations,  this  was 
an  end  of  amity.  Mr.  Chase  finally  had  great 
deliverance  on  the  fourth  of  February — speaking 
two  and  a  half  hours.  Ohio  had  given  the  largest 
direct  vote  against  slavery.  She  had  taken  decided 
lead  against  the  Nebraska  bill.  Her  senior  senator, 
as  longer  in  the  service,  spoke  on  the  third.  On 
the  sixth  he  was  followed  by  her  second  champion, 
who  declared  that  his  colleague  had  left  not  even  a 
dust  of  Douglas. 

It  is  to  be  remembered  that  the  region  then 
vaguely  called  Nebraska,  was  what  was  left  of  the 
Louisiana  purchase,  north  of  thirty-six  degrees 
and  thirty  minutes,  extending  to  the  dividing  line 
with  England,  and  from  the  west  line  of  the  states 
to  the  comb  of  the  Rocky  mountains. 

"Here  is  a  territory  as  large  as  an  empire," 
said  Mr.  Wade — "  as  large  as  all  the  free  states — 
pure  as  nature,  and  beautiful  as  the  garden  of 
God."  The  area  equalled  all  the  free  states,  with 
Virginia  added.  He  began  with  modest  self- 
depreciation,  quite  common  in  really  diffident  men, 
but  of  doubtful  taste,  and  launched  upon  his  theme. 
Evidently  the  whole  subject  lay  closely  within  his 
mental  grasp,  and  well  arranged.  He  reminded 
the  southern  Whigs  what  it  cost  their  northern 
friends,  under  the  pressure  of  a  growing  public 
opinion,  to  maintain  the  integrity  of  their  common 


196  B.  F.    WADE. 

party,  to  which  was  mainly  due  the  prosperity  of 
the  country,  and  upon  which  it's  dependence  to 
arrest  misrule  entirely  rested.  .  He  then  turned  to 
the  authors  of  the  new  measure,  received  every 
where  with  indignant  surprise,  terror  and  horror. 
He  demanded  to  know  what  visitation  they  had 
enjoyed  ;  what  new  light  had  reached  them  hidden 
from  the  world,  as  to  the  effect  of  the  compromise 
of  1850  upon  that  of  1820?  He  went  over  with 
the  later,  showed  its  constant  reference  to  the 
older  as  subsisting,  and  which  its  framers  with 
studious  care  did  their  best  to  respect  but  which 
it  was  now  found  they  had  entirely  abrogated,  in 
spite  of  themselves.  A  hard,  well-considered,  fixed 
enactment  of  congress,  solemnly  passed,  recognized 
by  the  nation  and  world,  had  been  repealed  by  an 
abstract  principle,  recently  discovered  in  other  leg 
islation.  This  he  unsparingly  ridiculed.  Douglas 
explained  and  restated.  Wade  reiterated  with 
scorn  and  contempt. 

It  was  said  that  in  adjusting  boundaries,  New 
Mexico,  a  territory  under  protection  of  the  acts 
of  1820,  had  been  slightly  cut  into,  and  thereupon 
it  is  now  proclaimed  that  the  acts  of  1820  were 
repealed  as  in  the  whole,  notwithstanding  the 
declaration  of  the  New  Mexican  act  that  it  did  no 
such  thing.  Two  owners  of  adjoining  land  re-run 
their  lines.  It  is  found  that  A  has  by  this  received 
an  inconsiderable  slip  of  B's  domain,  and  thereupon 
A  claims  that  both  parties  have  recognized  a 
principle  which  has  abrogated,  repealed,  B's  title 


B.  F.    WADE.  197 

to  the  whole,  and  all  A  has  to  do  is  to  take  pos 
session  of  the  whole  of  it.  He  showed  the  effect 
upon  the  northern  immigration  of  the  presence  of 
slavery  in  any  region.  No  northern  man,  no 
foreign  born,  migrated  to  a  slave  state.  A  freeman 
would  not  rnake  his  home  in  the  tainted  region  of 
slave  quarters.  No  freeman  would  labor  by  the 
side  of  one  degraded  by  being  the  mere  chattel  of 
another.  The  work  of  a  slave  was  servile,  because 
done  by  a  slave.  No  free  man  would  share  in  it. 

He  was  severe  on  Dixon,  a  pupil  and  the  suc 
cessor  of  the  great  Clay,  •  whose  last  work  he  was 
impiously  rending.  While  going  on,  Dixon  and 
Butler  of  South  Carolina  were  noisily  talking,  after 
the  fashion  of  the  south.  Butler  said  Wade  be. 
lieved  in  the  declaration  of  July  fourth,  which  made 
the  slave  his  equal,  and  why  should  not  equals 
work  side  by  side  ?  Wade  caught  it  up  with  a 
flash.  Dixon  wished  to  know  if  he  might  ask  him 
a  question.  He  replied  that  he  would  cheerfully 
permit  him  and  his  associate  (Butler)  to  ask  him 
any  question.  Dixon  wanted  to  know  if  he  be 
lieved  the  slave  was  the  equal  of  a  free  man. 
Wade  told  him  he  believed  he  was  the  born  equal 
of  any  man.  ' '  By  the  law  of  God  Almighty  your 
slave  is  your  equal,  and  so  you  will  find  out  at  the 
day  of  judgment,  though  probably  not  before,  at 
your  rate  of  progress,"  was  his  reply. 

This  brought  up  slavery  directly,  and  he  rapidly 
sketched  its  effects  on  the  people  and  country, 
which  he  illustrated  by  a  graphic  drawing  of  Vir- 


198  B.  F.   WADE. 

ginia,  and  it  was  proposed  to  thus  Africanize  the 
whole  of  the  new  great  territory,  after  the  Virginian 
pattern.  He  warned  all  parties  north  and  south, 
that  this  would  never  be  submitted  to.  He  thought 
all  compromises  were  mistakes  ;  wiser  men  thought 
differently,  and  made  them.  He  acquiesced  in 
them.  With  this  instance  of  punic  faith,  there 
never  would  be  another,  there  never  should  be 
another.  This  ruthless  disregard  of  the  compro 
mise  of  1820  left  that  of  1850  open  to  assault. 
Let  the  slaveholder  beware. 

He  began  without  formal  opening  and  finished 
with  no  prepared  phrases.  He  was  strong,  brave, 
impressive,  and  listened  to  with  profound  atten 
tion. 

The  speech,  as  a  whole,  was  one  of  the  best 
specimens  of  the  strong,  plain,  direct,  vigorous 
putting  of  things  by  the  clear,  hard-headed,  honest 
intellect  of  the  New  England  type,  to  be  found 
in  the  records  of  congress,  and  did  much  to 
strengthen  Mr.  Wade  in  the  senate  and  through 
the  country.  It  admonished  men  to  beware  of  a 
close  struggle,  where  fibrous  pluck,  hard  muscle 
and  manhood  would  tell. 

The  debate  ran  on,  all  the  senators  took  voice 
in  it,  and  on  the  morning  of  fourth  of  March,  as 
the  gray  outer  light  mingled  with  the  lights  of 
the  senate  chamber,  the  vote  was  taken.  Houston 
of  Texas  closed  the  debate  with  a  strong  speech 
against  the  bill.  It  passed — thirty-seven  for  to 
fourteen  against  it,  and  salvos  of  cannon,  as  on  the 


B.  F.   WADE.  199 

passage  of  the  ten  million  Texas  bill  in  the  house, 
advertised  the  still  sleeping  city  of  the  deed. 
Pearce  of  Maryland,  even  Clayton,  who  had  voted 
for  the  Wilmot  proviso,  voted  for  it.  John  Bell 
stood  with  Houston  against  it.  It  was  carried 
through  the  corridors  across  the  rotunda  to  the 
house,  where  after  nearly  three  months  of  stormy 
debates,  the  cannon  again  announced  its  passage. 
One  hundred  and  fourteen  voted  for,  and  one 
hundred  against  it.  Forty-four  northern  Demo 
crats  voted  against  it ;  no  northern  Whig  voted 
for  it.  Seven  southern  Whigs  voted  against  it, 
and  three  southern  Democrats,  Houston,  Thomas 
Hart  Benton*  and  John  S.  Millson  of  Virginia.! 
s  George  E.  Badger  of  North  Carolina  was  an 
aSle  man,  a  facile  speaker,  and,  like  many  such 
men,  took  much  oral  exercise  standing.  In  the 
Nebraska  debate  he  made  a  pathetic,  moving  ap 
peal  to  the  opponents  of  the  bill — personal  really. 
He  described  himself  as  wishing  to  emigrate  to  the 
new  territory,  and  carry  his  old  colored  mamma 
with  him — the  woman  who  had  nursed  him  in  in 
fancy  and  childhood,  and  whom  he  loved  as  a  real 
mother — and  he  could  not  take  her.  The  enemies 
of  this  benevolent  measure  forbade  him.  "We 
are  willing  you  should  take  the  old  lady  there — " 

*  Colonel  Benton  passed  from  public  life  with  that  congress. 
He  devoted  his  remaining  years  to  his  work — 'Thirty  Years  in 
the  Senate,'  and  died  at  Washington,  April  10,  1858,  at  seventy-six. 

f  John  S.  Millson  was  re-elected  to  the  thirty-fourth,  thirty-fifth  and 
thirty-sixth  congresses,  was  steadily  devoted  to  the  Union,  and  died  at 
Norfolk,  his  native  city,  February  26,  1873. 


200  B.  F.    WADE. 

interrupted  Wade,  ' '  we  are  afraid  you  II  sell  her 
when  you  get  her  there."  It  settled  the  tender  sen 
ator,  followed  as  it  was  by  a  universal  roar  of 
laughter.  He  made  an  ineffective  effort  to  re 
cover,  and  closed  most  abruptly.  It  was  one  of 
those  stinging  things  that  reduce  an  issue  to  a 
killing  point,  that  precludes  reply,  escape  or 
farther  argument.  J 

The  session  ran  on  till  August  7,  when  the  mis- 
rulers  returned  to  meet  their  still  amazed  and  in 
dignant  constituencies. 

I  have  now  with  much  breadth  traced  my 
Feeding  Hills  boy  to  a  prominent,  soon  to  be  a 
leading,  position  in  the  senate,  where  his  history 
is  part  of  the  history  of  his  time.  I  have  also 
rapidly  sketched  the  rise  and  progress  of  the  great 
struggles  against  slavery,  to  the  passage  of  the 
Kansas-Nebraska  act,  when  its  history  becomes 
the  history  of  the  country.  My  theme  must  now 
be  subjected  to  a  more  rapid  treatment,  a  more 
condensed  grouping  of  events  and  men. 

£  The  late  Judge  Jerry  Black  always  spoke  of  this  as  the  most  effec 
tive  single  blow  ever  dealt  a  man,  a  cause  or  an  argument,  in  the  history 
of  congress.  It  was  rare,  he  said,  that  the  conditions  for  such  a  reply 
could  exist,  and  rarer  still  that  a  man  was  present  equal  to  making  it 
To  fully  appreciate  it  requires  a  study  of  the  whole  field  and  an  ap 
prehension  of  all  the  factors  involved. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

Struggle  on  Kansas  Soil. — Seven  Years'  War. — Thirty-fourth  Con 
gress. — Sumner  Assaulted. — Slidell. — Douglas. — Toombs  Approves 
— Is  Denounced  by  Wade. — Dr.  Welling's  Account. — Wade  and 
Toombs. — Wade  and  Clayton. — Burlingame  and  Brooks. — 1856 
Presidential.  Election.— Fremont.— Buchanan.— Dred  Scott.— Thir 
ty-fifth  Congress. — Wade's  Position. — Unconscious  Preparation. — 
Thirty-sixth  Congress. —  Harper's  Ferry. — Its  Investigation. — 
Wade's  Speeches. — John  Sherman.— Southern  Departure. — 1860. — 
The  Popular  Vote.— The  Pryor-Potter  Episode. 

WHATEVER  may  be  the  faiths  of  men,  there  are 
no  indications  of  God  in  the  affairs  of  modern  na 
tions  or  peoples.  That  their  moral  qualities,  alike 
of  men  and  methods,  do  directly  work  in  the  line 
of  the  elevation  or  depression  of  a  people,  carry 
them  forward  or  backward,  is  abundantly  apparent, 
without  the  supposed  agency  of  an  overruling 
Providence.  A  religious  faith  influences  only  as 
it  helps  to  form  individual  character. 

One  of  the  most  potent  of  human  forces,  the 
ruler  who  takes  no  account  of  it,  is  reckless  or 
badly  equipped.  The  profoundly  religious  man 
who  acknowledges  his  daily  obligation  to  a  higher 
power,  will  see  God  in  the  affairs  of  men,  whether 
his  rulers  take  account  of  it  or  not.  That  faith  in 


202  B.  F.    WADE. 

God,  whether  enlightened  or  merely  blind,  had  a 
large  share  in  the  causes  of  the  great  pending  rev 
olution  is  too  obvious  for  proof,  as  its  influence 
was  too  subtle  to  be  segregated  and  discussed,  even 
by  a  historian  of  philosophical  tendency.  In  the 
great  congressional  struggle  just  closed — inter 
rupted  for  a  day  really — the  most  striking  phenom 
enon  was  the  memorial  of  the  three  thousand  New 
England  clergy,  presented  in  the  senate  by  Mr- 
Everett.  That  it  made  a  profound  and  wide,  prob 
ably  a  lasting,  impression  is  undoubtedly  true.  It 
was  at  once  debated,  denounced  and  deferred  to. 
That  it  called  forth  countervailing  clerical  labors  on 
the  part  of  the  southern  pastorate,  was  well-known. 
That  men  usually  manage  to  believe  what  they  wish 
to  be  true,  is  a  law  of  the  human  mind,  and  the 
peoples  of  both  sides  were  unconsciously  pre 
pared  to  secure  the  aid  of  the  God  they  sever 
ally  worshiped,  when  his  help  would  be  most 
needed. 

Just  when  the  southern  leaders  formed  the 
resolution  of  secession  is  not  known.  The  idea 
was  long  a  familiar  one.  They  lost  in  the  admis 
sion  of  California  as  a  free  state,  due  mainly  to  Mr. 
Clay,  the  one  thing  gained  by  the  north.  That 
they  hoped  to  regain  the  lost  balance  in  the  sen 
ate  by  new  states  carved  from  Nebraska,  won  from 
the  north,  is  unquestioned.  Failing  with  a  con 
necting  slave  state,  Kansas,  California  would  secede 
with  them.  True,  so  long  as  the  Democracy  of 
that  hemisphere  were  false  to  their  position  as 


B.  F.   WADE.  203 

northern  freemen,  they  were  safe.  They  were 
soon  to  see  Douglas  repudiated  in  Illinois  and 
Cass  in  Michigan.  True,  the  besotted  Whigs  would 
aid  in  ridding  them  of  Chase  in  Ohio  for  the  time. 
The  struggle  would  be  for  the  final  possession  of 
Kansas.  They  formed  their  ' '  Social  Bands, "  "Blue 
Lodges,"  and  "Sons  of  the  South,"  gathered  up 
two  or -three  hundred  slaves,  and  crossed  the  Mis 
souri  in  the  spring  of  1854.  The  north  was  astir 
with  her  "  Emigrant  aid  societies,  "  and  later  her 
Springfield  rifles.  Of  all  the  forms  of  human  associ 
ation,  slaveholders  are  the  feeblest  of  colonizers. 
In  but  one,  the  old  way  of  the  barbarians,  was  the 
dominion  of  Kansas  possible  to  them.  They  must 
go  in  a  body — a  whole  people — abandon  their  an 
cient  seats,  take  homes  and  hovels,  leave  their  older 
domain  a  solitude,  and  thus  secure  the  new.  Of 
all  forms  of  property  in  the  wide,  empty  plains, 
slaves  would  be  the  least  certain,  the  most  fuga 
cious,  beyond  the  utmost  reach  of  fugitive  slave 
laws.  Mr.  Pierce  at  once  appointed  A.  H.  Reeder, 
"a  sound,  national,  constitutional,  Conservative 
Democrat" — it  took  a  good  many  adjectives  then 
to  name  a  Pierce  Democrat — governor  of  Kansas. 
He  was  an  upright  man.  He  ordered  an  election. 
The  wild  riders  and  raiders  of  Missouri  camped  in 
Kansas,  elected  themselves,  assembled  in  legisla 
ture,  and  made  it  felony  to  deny  the  divine  existence 
of  slavery  in  Kansas.  Reeder  repudiated  their 
legislature  and  vetoed  all  their  bills.  Pierce  repu 
diated  and  vetoed  him,  and  sent  Wilson  Shannon 


204  B.  F.    WADE. 

— mellifluous  name — to  misrule  in  his  stead.  I  am 
only  to  send  the  younger  generation  to  read  up 
the  tradegy  of  Kansas — "  Bleeding  Kansas  "  as  the 
Democrats  derisively  called  it.* 

The  transition  period  intervening  between  the 
fall  of  the  Whig  party  and  the  rise  of  the  Repub 
lican  was  brief.  The  southern  wing  disappeared 
in  the  Democratic.  The  northern  reappeared  in 
the  Republican,  save  a  few  fossilized  and  very 
respectable  elderly  men,  known  as  Silver  Grays  of 
the  John  Bell  and  Edward  Everett  school. f  That 
short  time  was  one  of  conventions,  arrangements, 
fusions  and  the  reign  of  the  Knownothings  north, 
and  which  extended  into  the  south,  where  it  was 
under  the  lead  of  Henry  Winter  Davis,  Humphrey 
Marshall,  and  the  alway  melancholy  Horace  May- 
nard.  Its  leaders  north  were  many.  Its  stay  so 
brief  that  it  would  be  now  useless  and  difficult  to 
identify  them.J  They  were  largely  the  disappointed 
— the  failures  of  the  old  parties,  of  course.  A  suc 
cessful  man  never  leaves  his  party  or  sighs  for  a  new 
one.  Nor  does  a  successful  party  dissolve.  A 
new  question  sometimes  arises  to  which  existing 

*Theywill  find  the  latest  an  admirable  account  of  it  in  Professor 
Leverett  W.  Spring's  Kansas,  of  Houghton,  Mifflin  &  Company's, 
'  American  Commonwealths,'  recently  published. 

t  A  Silver  Gray  Whig  was  aptly  described  as  an  eminently  respecta 
ble    gentleman    who   took   the   National    Intelligencer  (of  Gales  & 
Seaton),  drank  the  best  brandy  and  voted  the  Democratic  ticket. 
£  Called  itself  the  American   party,  as  one  sung  of  the  autumn  leaf, 
"  Its  hold  is  frail,  its  stay  is  brief ; 
Restless  and  quick  to  pass  away." 

—  Wild's  Southern  Rose. 


B.  F.    WADE.  205 

parties  are  unequal.  If  of  pressing  moment,  it 
makes  for  itself  a  new  party  ;  when  the  remnants 
of  the  old  unite  against  it.  There  never  can 
be  but  two.  This  is  a  time  of  many  factions, 
ere  new  formations  appear  with  crystallization 
and  growth.  This  was  such  a  period  of  our 
national  history,  of  which  some  thoughtful  man 
will  some  time  give  us  a  most  interesting  study, 
which  will  involve  the  law  of  the  rise,  rule,  and  fall 
of  political  parties.  Our  history  is  rich  with  the 
material. 

Mr.  Chase  failing  of  reelection  to  the  senate  was 
nominated  by  a  Fusion  body  and  elected  gov 
ernor  of  Ohio  by  over  fifteen  thousand  in  1855. 
A  state  convention  of  Michigan  first  took  the  old 
name  Republican,  assumed  by  the  first  national 
convention  at  Philadelphia. 

Meantime  another  Presidential  election  was 
approaching  and  Florizell,  the  President,  must 
"face  a  frowning  world, "  and  as  so  many  men 
of  his  brief  day  had,  will  find  himself  utterly 
devoured  by  the  relentless  power  he  so  weakly 
and  willingly  served — men  who  learned  nothing 
from  what  they  saw  and  who,  save  as  examples, 
did  not  survive  their  experiences. 

Some  new  names  appeared  in  the  Thirty-fourth 
congress.  The  most  conspicuous  in  the  senate 
were  Lyman  Trumbull  from  Illinois  and  Henry 
Willson  of  Massachusetts.  J.  J.  Crittenden  reap 
peared,  as  did  Mr.  Hale.  Ohio  contributed  not 
only  a  new  senator,  Pugh,  but  John  Sherman, 


206  B.  F.    WADE. 

John  A.  Bingham,  Samuel  Galloway  and  Phile 
mon  Bliss  to  the  house,  which  now  had  the  three 
historic  brothers  Washburn  from  three  states. 
Francis  E.  Spinner  and  Justin  S.  Morrill  both 
appeared  there  for  the  first  time,  as  did  Colfax. 
Preston  S.  Brooks  was  there  from  South  Carolina 
— was  in  the  last  house.  Anson  Burlingame  was 
elected  to  this  house,  a  Knownothing  from  Boston. 
That  was  the  house  which  elected  N.  P.  Banks* 
speaker  after  a  protracted  struggle.  He  was 
voted  for  exclusively  by  the  north  ;  not  a  south 
ern  vote  was  cast  for  him.  This  was  the  first 
purely  sectional  election.  As  in  the  greater 
ensuing  Presidential  elections,  the  south  refused 
to  vote  for  either  northern  candidate,  and  made 
this  refusal  a  pretext  for  denouncing  the  elections 
as  sectional. 

The  first  thing  now  was  "  Bleeding  Kansas." 
Hitherto  the  great  ulcer  had  produced  irritations, 
sores,  eruptions  in  various  other  parts  and  forms. 
The  presence  of  the  slave  was  everywhere,  and 
everywhere  north  it  was  offensive.  It  had  now 
transplanted  itself  north.  The  feet  of  nearly  three 
hundred  slaves  were  burning  the  soil  of  Kansas, 
profaning  her  bosom  and  polluting  her  air. 
Henceforth  she  was  the  one  cause,  the  field  of 

*  Banks  entered  the  Thirty-third  congress  as  a  coalition  Democrat, 
to  the  present  as  a  Knownothing.  Had  been  speaker  of  the  Massa 
chusetts  house  of  representatives,  and  president  of  her  last  constitu 
tional  convention.  His  defects  of  character  defeated  the  prophecy  of 
his  young  manhood. 


B.  F.    WADE.  207 

strife.      As  fared  slavery  in  Kansas,  so  fares  slavery 
in  the  Republic. 

Who  foremost  sheds  a  foeman's  life, 
That  party  conquers  in  the  strife, 

though  none  foresaw  it. 

Kansas  of  the  many  constitutions — four,  at 
least,  voted  upon  by  her  people,  and  others,  in 
cluding  that  of  Lecompton,  the  pure  product  of 
slavery,  which  were  finally  submitted.  She  was  the 
one  thing  to  dissolve  and  reconstruct  parties  north, 
solidify  the  south,  create  and  destroy  men,  strip  the 
thin  veneering  of  civilization  from  slaveholders,  their 
servitors  and  lackeys  in  congress,  convert  and  con 
duct  the  two  sections  to  armed  hosts  confronting 
each  other  in  war  actual. 

The  bondmen's  masters  who  sought  by  outrages 
to  possess  the  youngest  of  the  daughters,  were 
strangled  by  her,  sustained-  as  she  was  by  her 
northern  sisters,  and  she  took  her  proper  place  with 
them  under  the  Wyandotte  constitution  January 
29,  1 86 1,  seven  years  and  a  few  days  from  the  fatal 
introduction  of  the  Nebraska  bill  by  Stephen  A. 
Douglas — seven  years  of  chronic  war  thus  initiated, 
to  serve  the  vulgar  ambition  of  an  arrant  dema 
gogue,  was  the  fitting,  educating  process  leading 
up  to  the  contest  instantly  to  follow,  which  yet  no 
one  saw  or  suspected. 

A  rapid  survey,  a  glance  at  some  of  its  inci 
dents  and  salient  points,  with  which  Mr.  Wade 
was  personally  connected,  must  be  taken. 

Kansas    thus   at   once    became    the    subject    of 


208  B.  F.    WADE. 

stormy  debates  in  both  houses,  in  the  course  of 
which  Butler,  of  South  Carolina — who  to  his 
graces  as  a  chivalrous  Carolinian  often  added  the 
inspiration  of  wine,  its  distilled  spirits  and  of 
vulgar  whiskey — made  a  speech  quite  under  the 
usual  elevating  influence.  The  southerners 
were  so  accustomed  to  vituperative  abuse  of  the 
north  and  its  delegates  that  they  were  unconscious 
of  the  force  of  the  terms  and  manner  they  indulged 
in.  Butler  made  a  bad  exhibition  of  himself, 
"scattering  the  loose  expectoration  of  his  speech,' 
as  Sumner  described  it,  over  his  person,  desk  and 
surroundings.  Some  time  elapsed  when  Sumner, 
in  the  fullness  of  his  own  time  and  preparation, 
also  discussed  Kansas,  under  which  head,  as  all 
on  both  sides  had  done,  he  discussed  the  whole 
subject  of  slavery,  and  for  quite  the  first  time  dis 
cussed  slaveholders  and  their  bearing  in  the 
senate  ad  hominem.  In  the  course  of  his  speech 
he  made  contemptuous — not  unjust — reference  to 
Senator  Butler  and  his  performance.  It  was  a 
graphic,  condensed,  painful  speech.* 

At  the  recess  the  northern  senators  went  out, 
leaving  Sumner  in  his  seat,  with  many  of  the 
southeners  sitting  about  him — as  if  the  whole 

*  It  is  said  that  both  Wade  and  Seward  regretted  it — as  much  of 
the  speech.  It  was  said  also,  and  among  Republicans,  that  Sumner 
was  dissatisfied  with  his  position  before  the  country,  and  that  this  lent 
bitterness  and  acrimony  to  his  speech  of  that  twenty-second  of  May. 
It  certainly  was  the  most  awful  phillipic  ever  pronounced  against 
slavery,  and  in  the  senator's  thunderous  voice  and  face  aflame,  little 
wonder  that  its  effect  was  so  maddening  on  the  chronic  exacerbated 
southerners  and  their  allies. 


B.   F.    WADE.  209 

thing  was  not  over,  when  Preston  S.  Brooks  of 
South  Carolina,  a  kinsman  of  Butler,  approached 
him,  bent  over  his  writing-desk  and  dealt  him  a 
heavy  and  stunning  blow  upon  the  head  with  a 
stout  cane.  Sumner  was  in  his  prime,  and,  though 
a  student,  was  of  large  mould,  healthy,  and  must 
have  had  great  strength.  With  one  mighty,  instinc 
tive  effort  he  wrenched  the  solid  oaken  desk  from  its 
fastenings,  nearly  gained  his  feet,  when  a  second 
furious  blow  felled  him,  where  his  cowardly  assailant 
continued  to  beat  him  until  he  shattered  his  heavy 
bludgeon.  Toombs  and  other  southern  senators 
were  near.  Douglas  was  not  remote.  Not  a  man 
went  to  his  rescue  or  made  sign  or  note  of  disap 
proval.  The  senate  chamber  was  a  part  of  Kansas. 
E.  B.  Morgan  of  Aurora,  New  York— of  the  house — 
happened  to  enter  the  senate  chamber  and  ran  to 
the  nearly  insensible,  bleeding  man's  aid,  when 
Brooks  prudently  desisted.  Sumner  was  borne 
out  from  the  presence  of  his  scowling,  rejoicing 
foes.  What  they  said  to  each  other  after  he  de 
parted  they  never  reported.  Brooks  made  the 
only  reply  to  him  ever  attempted  in  the  senate. 

On  the  next  day  a  committee  of  five  was  raised 
by  ballot  in  the  senate,  consisting  of  Pearce  of 
Maryland,  Cass,  Allen,  Dodge  and  Geyer — all 
Democrats,  all  enemies.  Mr.  Cass  had  the  smallest 
number  of  votes.  Mr.  Pearce  reported  without 
much  delay.  The  assault  was  by  a  member  of  the 
house.  The  senate  was  without  jurisdiction. 
There  was  a  studious  silence  of  the  quality  of  the 


2io  B.  F.   WADE. 

act,  though  committed  in  the  senate  chamber  dur 
ing  a  session,  and  in  the  presence  of  many  senators 
— a  silence  sufficiently  expressive.  A  pure  nega 
tive  pregnant,  of  the  old  lawyers,  not  misunder 
stood.  Nor  did  the  committee  intend  that  it 
should  be.  The  house  promptly  sent  Mr.  Brooks 
to  a  committee.  Mr.  Sumner's  deposition  was 
taken  at  his  lodgings.  The  publication  of  it 
called  out  explanation  on  the  part  of  Messrs. 
Slidell,  Douglas,  Toombs  and  Butler.  The  se 
verest  condemnation  of  these  men  rests  on  the  page 
of  the  Globe,  which  preserves  their  preconsidered 
statements.  Mr.  Slidell  denied  the  statement  that 
he  was  in  the  senate  chamber  at  the  instant.  In  a 
room  adjoining  a  page  rushed  in  and  said  Mr. 
Brooks  was  beating  Mr.  Sumner.  He  had  no  in 
terest  in  the  Massachusetts  senator.  Later  the 
boy  came  back  and  said  it  was  over,  and  he  went 
out,  saw  Mr.  Sumner  borne  by  him  —  was 
the  substance  in  very  many  words,  contrived 
to  express  satisfaction  without  saying  it.  The 
most  humiliating  to  an  American  was  the 
column  of  words  uttered  by  Douglas.*  He 
said  he  was  present,  knew  Brooks  assaulted 
Sumner,  a  crowd  gathered  about  them,  and  he 
could  not  see  exactly  what  occurred,  and  soon  vvent 

*  It  is  impossible  almost  to  find  Douglas  anywhere  in  the  Globe 
where  he  appears  to  advantage.  I  know  it  is  said  he  redeemed  himself 
in  1861.  What  was  left  for  him — repudiated  north,  maltreated  south  ? 
He  doubtless  felt  the  sting  of  humiliation  and  resentment.  He  was 
not  needed.  He  received  twelve  electoral  votes  in  1860  ;  and  died 
June  3,  1861. 


B.  F.   WADE.  211 

out.  The  bold,  bad  Toombs,  referred  to  by  Slidell, 
corroborated  him.  Said  he  was  present,  saw  the 
whole  transaction,  and  approved  it.  Four  lines 
give  his  speech.  Space  too  much.  Wade  arose 
within  arm's  length  of  the  savage,  face  livid,  eyes 
flashing,  hands  clenched: 

Mr  President — It  is  impossible  for  me  to  sit  still  and  hear  the  princi 
ples  announced  which  I  have  now  heard  here.  I  know  nothing,  say 
nothing  of  the  facts  jinvolved.  I  am  here  in  a  lean  minority.  Not  a 
fifth  of  the  senate  entertain  my  views.  They  are  very  unpopular  here  ; 
but  when  I  hear  it  stated  on  the  floor  of  the  senate,  that  an  assassin- 
like,  cowardly  attack  has  been  made  on  an  unarmed  man,  powerless  to 
defend  himself— was  stricken  with  a  strong  hand*  and  almost  mur 
dered,  and  that  such  attacks  are  approved  by  senators,  it  becomes  a 
question  of  interest  to  us  all,  and  especially  to  the  minority.  It  is  true 
that  a  brave  man  may  not  be  able  to  defend  himself  against  such  an 
attack.  A  brave  man  may  be  overpowered  by  numbers  on  this  floor, 
but  sir,  overborne  or  not,  live  or  die,  I  will  vindicate  the  right  and  lib 
erty  of  debate  and  the  freedom  of  discussion  upon  this  floor,  so  long  as 
I  live.  If  the  principle  now  here  announced  prevail,  let  us  come 
armed  for  the  contest,  and  although  you  ate  four  to  one  I  AM  HERE  TO 
MEET  YOU.  God  knows  a  man  can  die  In  no  better  cause  than  in  the 
vindication  of  the  right  of  debate  on  this  floor,  and  I  only  ask  if  the 
majority  approve  the  announcement  made,  make  it  a  part  of  our  par 
liamentary  law,  that  we  may  understand  it.* 

The  world  held  its  breath  or  drew  it  with 
tremors.  Here  were  the  sons  of  chivalry  defied 

*  Real  lightning — God's  article— had  never  before  flashed  in  the  sen 
ate  chamber  and  struck  senators  in  their  curule  chairs.  I  am  permit 
ted  here  to  give  a  private  note  of  James  C.  Welling,  LL.  D.,  president 
of  Columbian  college,  distinguished  for  scholarship  and  an  accom 
plished  historical  writer.  I  am  glad  to  have  a  graphic  account  of  the 
same  by  such  an  eye  witness  : 

WASHINGTON,  May  6,  1886. 

MY  DEAR  MR.  RIDDLE  : — Many  thanks  for  a  copy  of  the  April 
number  of  the  Magazine  of  Western  History,  containing  the  contribu 
tion  of  your  interesting  biography  of  "Brave  Ben  Wade."  1  have 
read  this  installment  with  the  greatest  curiosity  and  interest,  because 
the  earlier  part  of  it  relates  to  the  time  when,  as  an  enthusiastic  boy 
shouting  for  "old  Tippecanoe, "  I  first  began  to  watch  the  drift  of 


212  B.  F.   WADE. 

with  the  terms  assassin  and  cowardly,  applied  by  a 
man  of  the  north.  It  was  known  that  he  was  of 
heroic  descent.  Of  course  it  devolved  on  Toombs 
to  call  him  to  account.* 

American  politics.  And  that  humorous  speech  of  Tom  Corwin,  "the 
user-up  of  Crary,"  as  the  boys  loved  to  call  him  in  1840!  Why,  I 
could  then  repeat  whole  paragraphs  of  it  for  the  confusion  of  the  Van 
Buren  boys  in  the  Ironton  academy,  where  I  was  preparing  for  college. 

I  shall  never  forget  the  defiant  atitude  of  Mr.  Wade  in  the  senate  of 
the  United  States  a  few  days  after  the  assault  of  Brooks  on  Senator 
Sumner.  In  the  course  of  some  "personal  explanations"  made  by 
Senator  Slidell  and  others  who  had  witnessed  that  outrage,  Toombs  of 
Georgia  openly  avowed  that  he  had  witnessed  the  assault,  and  that  he 
approved  it,  too  !  This  was  more  than  Wade  could  stand.  I  can  see 
him  now  as  he  rose  in  his  place,  while  Toombs  was  in  the  act  of 
sitting  down — his  seat  was  very  near  to  that  of  Toombs— and  he  began 
at  once,  with  great  vehemence  of  speech,  to  throw  down  the  gage  of 
personal  combat,  then  and  there  to  the  southern  senators,  if  the 
bludgeon  was  to  be  their  weapon  of  argument  in  that  stage  of  the  con 
troversy.  Alternately  rising  on  the  tips  of  his  boots  and  sinking  with 
all  his  weight  on  his  heels,  he  thundered  defiance  alike  with  voice  and 
eye  as  he  gave  emphasis  to  his  periods  with  his  sturdy  fist  pounding 
on  the  desk  before  him.  Turning  to  Toombs  he  exclaimed  :  "If  the 
principle  now  announced  here  is  to  prevail,  let  us  come  armed  for  the 
combat,  and  although  you  are  four  to  one,  I  am  here  to  meet  you." 
The  very  air  of  the  senate  chamber  was  tremulous  with  passion. 

The  fiery  speaker  cast  a  withering  look  at  Toombs  as  he  resumed 
his  seat,  yet  that  thrasonical  statesman  did  not  adventure  a  word  in 
reply. 

But  I  am  trenching  on  an  episode  in  the  life  of  Senator  Wade  to 
which  you  can  do  better  justice  in  all  its  aspects,  and  so  I  will  forbear, 
simply  pausing  long  enough  to  repeat  the  thanks,  with  which  I  am,  my 
dear  Mr.  Riddle, 

Very  truly  yours, 

JAMES  C.  WELLING. 

As  Dr.  Welling  advises  me  the  Globe  index  contains  no  reference  to 
Wade's  speech,  I  found  it  by  going  through  the  Globe  bodily. 

*  James  Watson  Webb,  founder  of  the  once  great  Courier  and  En 
quirer,  who  had  an  affair  with  Tom  Marshall,  a  friend  and  admirer  of 
Wade's,  sought  him,  in  company  with  J.  A.  Briggs  of  Ohio,  another 
friend  and  admirer,  the  evening  after  the  speeches,  to  be  of  service  if 
required.  They  found  him  in  his  usual  pleasant  state,  and  Colonel 
Webb  was  amazed  that  no  challenge  had  been  received.  He  was 
certain  Toombs  had  been  in  council  with  his  friends,  who  would  re 
quire  it  of  him.  He  wished  to  know  his  intentions  if  one  came.  Wade 
said  his  constituents  to  a  man,  perhaps,  were  opposed  to  the  code.  This 
was  his  affair.  It  was  an  exceptional  time.  In  his  judgment  nothing 


B.  F.    WADE.  213 

Mr.  Wade's  personal  matter  with  Senator  Clay 
ton  occurred  this  season.  It  grew  out  of  all  fruitful 
Kansas,  on  which  the  Delawareian  made  a  speech. 
Mr.  Wade  detected  matter  reflecting  upon  himself 
personally,  which  he  was  sure  had  not  been 
spoken.  On  reference  to  the  reporter,  who  had 
not  destroyed  his  character  notes,  his  suspicion 
was  confirmed.  He  quietly  called  the  senator's 
attention  to  it,  and,  failing  to  have  the  matter  set 
right,  took  notice  of  it  in  a  way  to  provoke  much 
comment.  It  is  said  the  diplomatic  senator  had 
the  address  to  ascertain  how  an  invitation  to  the 
field  would  be  received  by  this  descendant  of  the 
Puritans.  The  result  did  not  incline  him  to  send 

could  be  more  salutary  than  the  firm  punishment  of  one  of  these  south 
ern  braggarts.  He  was  asked  what  would  be  his  terms.  He  replied( 
•  '  The  rifle  and  thirty  paces."  He  was  cool,  determined  ;  was  a  dead 
shot,  and  had  his  rifle  in  the  city.  His  position  was  painful  to  the  last 
degree.  He  betrayed  no  signs  of  it.  The  few  intimates  about  him 
expected  a  meeting,  and  fatal  to  the  southern.  They  said,  "  Pin  a 
paper  to  Toombs'  bosom  the  size  of  a  quarter  coin  and  Wade's  bullet 
would  certainly  cut  it."  The  next  and  the  next  day  passed  and  no  call. 
On  the  third  both  were  in  their  seats.  Toombs  reached  his  hand  over 
and  placed  it  on  Wade's  shoulder  saying  :  "  Wade,  what  is  the  use  of 
two  men  making  damned  fools  of  themselves?" 

"  None  at  all — but  it  is  the  misfortune  of  some  men  that  they 
can't  help  it,"  was  the  good-humored  reply  ;  and  they  were  really  good 
friends  from  tjiat  day  on.  Once  later  the  fiery  southern  made  an  onset, 
this  time  coupling  Wade  with  Seward.  The  philosophic  New  York 
senator  went  to  the  cloak-room  at  its  commencement,  lit  a  cigar,  and 
stood  in  the  door  enjoying  it.  Wade  took  the  floor  and  flashed  back 
a  few  caustic  .words. 

Toombs  boasted  in  the  senate  of  being  "as  good  a  rebel  as  ever 
sprang  from  revolutionary  loins."  He  was  at  feud  with  Jefferson 
Davis,  and  made  small  figure  after  leaving  the  senate — one  of  the  few 
blustering  men  of  very  great  ability.  His  death  occurred  recently. 


214  B.  F.   WADE. 

a  missive.  The  matter  lingered  with  a  flavor  in 
the  atmosphere.  Mr.  Clayton  found  an  opening  to 
an  interview,  in  which  Wade  good-naturedly  said 
that ''it  ought  to  be  regarded  as  barred  by  the 
statute  of  limitations."  Mr.  Clayton  died  the  fol 
lowing  November. 

It  may  be  stated  'that  Brooks  was  saved  expul 
sion  by  the  south — the  majority  against  him  being 
less  than  two-thirds.* 

It  was  a  little  after  this  time  that  the  chronic  in 
solence  of  the  slaveholders  in  both  houses,  and 
especially  in  the  senate,  led  to  the  conviction  and 
determination  on  the  part  of  three  conspicuous 
northern  senators  to  resent  these  aggressions,  and 
meet  the  foe  on  their  own  favorite  field,  a  determi 
nation  which  took  the  form  of  a  league,  "  a  com 
pact."  Years  afterward  the  senators  as  a  testimo 
nial  of  the  times,  and  their  final  method  of  dealing 
with  some  of  the  difficulties  besetting  them,  exe 
cuted  the  memorandum  given  in  the  note  below, 
now  first  made  public.  Its  language  and  structure 
would  lead  to  the  inference  that  it  was  to  some 

*  He  resigned,  was  unanimously  re-elected— also  a  second  time. 
The  last  to  the  thirty-fifth  congress.  He  is  said  to  have  been  pre 
sented  several  hundred  canes.  He  died  very  suddenly  of  diphtheria,  at 
Washington,  in  January,  1857.  He  challenged  Burlingame  for  words 
spoken  on  his  case,  but  declined  to  follow  him  for  the  meeting — "across 
the  enemy's  country  "  to  Canada,  the  place  named.  It  will  be  remem 
bered  that  Mr.  Sumner's  condition  was  jeered  and  sneered  at  by  the 
southern  senators  until  he  returned  to  his  seat.  He  undoubtedly  re 
ceived  a  severe  spinal  injury,  which  soon  developed,  and  he  went  abroad 
for  treatment,  where  he  remained  for  years,  Massachusetts  keeping 
him  nominally  in  the  senate.  He  never  fully  recovered.  His  attitude 
was  infirm,  his  step  shaky. 


B.  F.  WADE,  215 

extent  dictated  to  a  secretary  by  Mr.  Wade,  the 
only  paper  deliberately  made  by  him  to  perpetuate 
historical  matter  that  has  come  to  my  notice  : 

MEMORANDUM.  —  During  the  two  or  three  years  preceding  the 
outbreak  of  the  slaveholders'  rebellion,  the  people  of  the  free  states 
suffered  a  deep  humiliation  because  of  the  abuse  heaped  upon  their 
representatives  in  both  houses  of  congress  by  their  colleagues  from  the 
slave  states. 

This  gross  personal  abuse  was  borne  by  many  because  the  public 
sentiment  of  their  section  would  have  fallen  with  crushing  severity 
upon  them  if  they  had  retorted  in  the  only  manner  in  which  it 
could  be  effectively  met  and  stopped,  by  the  personal  punishment 
of  their  insulters. 

Mr.  William  H.  Seward  was  the  especial  object  of  these  insults, 
and,  he  being  the  admitted  leader  of  the  Republicans  in  the  senate, 
all  men  were  insulted  through  him.  Whether  from  philosopical 
serenity  of  temper,  or  from  a  positive  lack  of  physical  courage,  he 
took  these  premeditated  insults  with  a  calmness  which  set  many  of 
his  followers  frantic  with  rage  and  shame.  On  one  noted  occasion  Mr. 
Robert  Toombs  indulged  in  such,  terrible  unjust  denunciation  of  Seward 
and  his  followers,  that  the  undersigned  felt  themselves  forced  to  do 
something  to  vindicate  themselves  and  their  constituents,  threatened 
by  these  means  of  a  denial  of  equal  representation  in  the  senate. 

We  consulted  long  and  anxiously,  and  the  result  was  a  league  by 
which  we  bound  ourselves  to  resent  any  repetition  of  this  conduct 
by  challenge  to  fight,  and  then,  in  the  precise  words,  the  compact  "  to 
carry  the  quarrel  into  a  coffin." 

After  the  lapse  of  half  a  generation  the  statement  of  this  arrange 
ment  of  this  measure  may  have  the  appearance  of  bloodthirstiness,  but 
it  should  be  remembered  that  the  causes  which  led  to  it  were  extremely 
grievous.  Our  constituents  were  well  nigh  deprived  of  their  rights  in 
congress  by  the  insolence  of  our  political  oponents.  Our  very  man 
hood  was  daily  called  in  question.  Only  one  method  of  stopping  the 
now  [then]  unendurable  outrage  was  open,  and  that  method  required 
us  to  submit  (because  of  the  sentiment  against  duelling  at  home)  to  an 
ostracism  if  we  defended  ourselves,  as  galling  as  the  endurance  of  the 
insults  we  encountered  in  the  pursuit  of  our  public  duties.  Neverthe 
less  this  arrangement  produced  a  cessation  of  the  cause  which  induced 
us  to  make  it,  and  when  it  became  known  that  some  northern  senators 
were  ready  to  fight  for  sufficient  cause,  the  tone  of  their  assailants 
were  at  once  modified. 


216  B.  F.    WADE. 

We  have  drawn  up  and  signed  this  paper  as  an  interesting  incident 
for  those  who  come  after  us  to  study,  as  an  example  of  what  it  once 
cost  to  be  in  favor  of  liberty,  and  to  express  such  sentiments  in  the 
highest  places  of  official  life  in  the  United  States. 

This  is  a  confidential  memorandum.  Only  three  copies  exist,  and 
we  have  each  placed  the  copy  we  [severally]  possess  in  our  private 
and  confidential  papers,  subject  only  to  our  order. 

(Signed)  SIMON  CAMERON, 

B.  F.  WADE, 
L.  CHANDLER. 
WASHINGTON,  May  26,  1874. 

Though  in  terms  confidential  the  paper  was 
intended  to  be  at  some  time  made  public.  Obvi 
ously  no  harm  can  now  accrue  to  the  dead  or  liv 
ing  by  permitting  it  to  transpire.  It  is  given  here 
as  written,  with  slight  change  in  punctuation. 

The  year  1856  was  memorable  for  the  Fre 
mont  campaign — Fremont  the  Pathfinder,  whom 
brave  Jessie  Benton  ran  away  with,  bless  her  eyes! 
Fremont,  the  eighteen-day  senator  of  Free  Cali 
fornia — a  half  myth  alike  of  history  and  romance 
— one  of  the  badly-used  generals  of  the  war. 

Mr.  Seward  was  unquestionably  the  leading  man. 
His  sagacious  adviser,  Thurlow  Weed,  thought 
his  day  was  not  yet.  His  candidacy  that  year 
would  have  secured  it  in  1860.  Mr.  Chase  did 
not  care  for  it.  Judge  John  McLean  alway  wanted 
it.  He  was  old,  too  old  for  fresh,  rosy  Republica. 
The  Blairs  brought  forward  Fremont.  He  twas 
nominated  at  Philadelphia  in  June.  Win.  L. 
Dayton  of  New  Jersey  was  placed  with  him  on  the 
ticket.  New  Jersey  has  furnished  several  defeated 
candidates  for  vice-president. 

The  Democrats  were  obliged  to  pass  their  really 


B.  F.   WADE.  217 

best  man,  stout  Sam  Houston.  His  nomination 
would  have  been  a  rebuke  to  their  entire  brood  south. 
Pierce  and  Douglas  made  persistent  efforts.  Pierce 
sent  Buchanan  on  the  English  mission,  and  this 
brought  him  the  golden  opportunity  to  become  the 
saddest,  the  most  unhappy  figure  of  American  his 
tory.  He  received  135  on  the  first  ballot  to  122 
for  the  President,  and  33  for  Douglas.  Pierce  ran 
down  to  half  of  one  and  was  withdrawn.  On  the 
sixteenth,  Buchanan  was  nominated,  and  Brecken- 
ridge  had  the  second  place  with  him. 

The  Knownothings  (American)  had  speedily 
split  on  slavery.  The  adherents  of  "the  peculiar," 
and  the  shadows  remaining  of  the  Whigs,  placed 
Fillmore  and  A.  J.  Donaldson  in  nomination  also. 
What  a  ghostly  business  was  that  !  There  was 
never  such  a  mingling  of  the  present  with  the  past 
and  future,  as  that  campaign  presented. 

Mr.  Buchanan  carried  every  southern  state  but 
Maryland;  and  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  Indiana} 
Illinois  and  California,  174  votes.  The  remaining 
free  states,  eleven  in  number,  from  Maine  round 
to  Iowa,  cast  their  votes  -for  Fremont — 114. 
Maryland,  in  the  realms  of  shadow,  gave  her  eight 
to  Fillmore.  The  popular  vote  was — Democrats 
1,838,169;  Republicans,  1,341,264;  Americans, 
874,534.  Buchanan  thus  reached  the  Presidency 
with  a  majority  of  407,629  against  him.  The 
Democrats  were  greatly  chagrined  by  the  result. 
The  Republicans  were  entirely  satisfied.  They  were 
fully  aware  that  they  at  the  time  were  not  ripe  for 


218  B.  F.    WADE. 

power.  The  future  was  theirs  as  they  belonged 
to  it  by  aspiration.  Under  the  emphasis  of  the 
results  of  the  election,  the  remaining-  session  of  the 
Thirty-fourth  congress  assembled  and  wore  and 
warred  Kansas  through  to  March  3,  1857. 

Mr.  Buchanan  had  a  good  deal  of  dead  wood 
lying  about  all  over  the  north,  from  which  a  cabi 
net  might  be  constructed.  He  naturally,  almost 
necessarily,  placed  Cass — then  seventy-five  years 
old — at  the  head.  From  his  own  state  he  selected 
Jeremiah  S.  Black  for  attorney-general — by  no 
means  dead  wood — the  ablest  man,  with  the  widest 
acquisition,  of  his  party.  Of  almost  wonderful 
force  and  energy  of  character,  he  was  still  without 
perceptible  personal  following.  From  the  south 
he  took  Cobb  and  Floyd  and  Jake  Thompson, 
with  Toucy  for  the  navy.  Toucy  was  dead  enough. 

That  was  also  the  year  marked  by  the  Dred  Scott 
decision.  That  should  have  surprised  no  one. 
The  judges,  not  walled  in  by  precedent,  were  left 
to  the  influence  of  unconscious  bias — as  in  the  elec 
toral  commission  of  1876.  It  was  expected  that 
slavery  would  greatly  profit  by  this  judicial  aid. 
Its  besotted  advocates  could  not  see  that  what 
ever  strengthened  it  south,  where  it  was  resist 
less,  must  weaken  it  north  ;  that  the  united  north 
would  depose  it,  and  that  deposed,  it  would  die — no 
matter  what  immediate  agencies  were  employed  by 
them.  The  Dred  Scott  decision  equalled  the  fugi 
tive  slave  act  as  an  exciting  cause.  These  and 
Kansas  would  be  all  sufficient.  This,  the  first 


B.  F.    WADE.    '  219 

judgment  of  the  supreme  court  that  became  an  ex 
citing  popular  theme,  was  added — a  fresh  empha 
sizing  cause  of  contention  in  the  ensuing  congress. 
The  court  sat  in  the  half  beehive-shaped  room 
below — east-front,  at  the  right  as  one  passes 
the  main  lower  entrance,  now  occupied  by  the 
Congressional  Law  library.*  It  sat  quite  under 
the  senators,  who  with  great  freedom  called  in 
question  its  decision,  arraigned  and  condemned 
it,  and  almost  within  hearing  of  the  tribunes 
of  the  people  in  the  other  house,  who  consecrated 
it  to  derision  and  ridicule. 

If  we  glance  at  the  Thirty-fifth  congress  we  shall 
discover  some  noteworthy  changes  and  additions. 
Broderick  was  there  in  the  senate  from  California, 
and  Harlan  from  Iowa.  Cass  had  yielded  to 
Chandler.  Preston  King  succeeded  Hamilton 
Fish.  Simon  Cameron  entered  that  senate,  as  did 
Simmons  from  Rhode  Island.  So  also  came  Doo- 
little  from  Wisconsin.  In  the  house  Owen  Love- 
joy,  Farnsworth,  Henry  L.  Dawes,  L.  Q.  C.  Lamar 
and  Frances  C.  Blair,  jr.  New  York  contributed  an 
unusual  number  of  new  names  to  become  notable. 
Among  them  Corning,  Fenton,  Olin  and  Sickles. 
Ohio's  new  names  to  grow  conspicuous  wereseveral, 
Cox,  Groesbeck,  Pendleton,  Vallandigham — all 
Democrats,  of  course,  while  William  Lawrence  was 
added  to  the  Republicans.  Maynard  made  his  first 
appearance  there  at  this  congress.  Houston  found 
a  seat  in  that  house  now,  where  he  had  been  be- 

*Said  now  to  be  the  largest  law  library  of  the  world, 


220  B.  F.    WADE. 

fore.      Seven  territories  were   represented  in  that 
body  also. 

The  long  session  began  December  7,  1857,  and 
ended  the  fourteenth  of  June,  1858.  A  notable 
incident  of  it  was  the  presentation  by  Pugh  of 
the  resolutions  of  the  Ohio  legislature  (by  the  ma 
jority,  of  course),  crouching,  like  Issachar,  be 
tween  two  burdens,  now  glorifying  the  Cincin 
nati  platform,  on  which  Buchanan  was  elected. 
Pugh,  on  their  presentation,  delivered  one  of  the 
finest  of  his  finished  orations,  quite  for  the  hour 
enchaining  the  galleries.  Wade,  who  had  mean 
time  been  reflected,  cameliown  upon  the  impu 
dent  and  impertinent  contribution  of  the  Ohio 
Democracy  with  good-natured  contempt.  He 
showed  the  value  of  this  indorsement  of  the  plat 
form  by  Ohio,  whose  people,  since  its  promulga 
tion,  had  cast  a  majority  of  sixty  thousand  votes 
against  it.  For  the  rest,  a  few  well-directed  blows 
left  the  thing  in  ruins  past  patching.  He  had  now, 
by  steady  attention  to  his  duties,  his  practical  good 
sense,  freedom  from  mistakes,  large  intelligence, 
his  clearness  and  certainty  of  vision,  honesty  and 
absolute  sincerity,  grown  to  a  leading,  a  com 
manding  and  entirely  independent  position  in  the 
senate.  He  had  come  to  be  not  one  of  the  oftenest 
heard,  but  one  of  the  alway  listened  to,  debaters, 
never  speaking  unless  to  add  something  to  the 
volume  of  the  right  understanding  of  the  subject 
in  hand.  He  might  not  alway  say  anything  new? 
nor  old  things  in  a  new  way.  His  judgment  was 


B.  F.    WADE.  221 

admirable.  He  saw  quick  and  clear  ;  was  capa 
ble  of  prejudices.  His  mind  was  honest.  He 
was  brave  in  the  utterance  of  his  convictions. 
Men  came  to  have  trust  in  his  level,  practical  views. 
They  alway  gave  weight  to  the  side  he  took  on 
all  non-partisan  things.  There  are  many  things 
national,  common  to  all  men,  policies,  courses, 
conducts,  to  be  pursued,  that  occupy  much  time, 
involve  real  doubt,  about  which  all  men  want  to 
be  right.  On  all  these  the  question  was,  "  What 
does  old  Ben  Wade  say  about  it  ?"  He  usually 
came  in  late,  with  well  considered  views,  and  the 
thing  was  not  regarded  as  thoroughly  debated  till 
he  was  heard.  Men,  after  all,  are  more  influenced 
by  weight  and  strength  of  character.  Men  of 
these  qualifications  have  alway  been  true  govern 
ors.  Thus  estimated,  our  senator  had  few  peers. 
He  never  referred  to  the  people — his  constituents 
— probably  cared  little  what  they  thought.  The 
thing  he  believed  he  said,  the  thing  right  he  did. 
Time  lapsed.  Many  things  were  considered — 
grave  and  numerous — the  homestead  scheme,  a 
Pacific  railroad.  Many  things,  in  the  presence, 
under  the  shadow  of  the  great  coming  events, 
so  ominously  cast  before,  and  for  which  the  dis 
cussions,  the  irritations  of  the  great  growing  and 
ever  growing  great  issues — the  very  brooding  over 
which  by  the  reticent  northern  mind,  admirably 
and  all  unconsciously,  fitted  the  people  for,  while 
they  conducted  them  now  rapidly  to  the  battle's 


edge.  '  I 


222  B.  F.    WADE. 

The  year  1858  came  with  the  state  elections — 
elections  for  the  house  of  the  Thirty-sixth  con 
gress.  The  second  session  lapsed,  and  the  spring 
and  summer  of  1859,  w^h  incipient  steps  for  the 
decisive  contest  of  1860,  in  which  empire  was  to 
be  lost  and  won — the  Republic's  fate  for  good  or 
ill  to  be  cast. 

The  old  causes  of  political  war  with  new  fea 
tures  and  incidents  constantly  recurring,  had 
become  chronic.  Comparative  peace  and  quiet 
were  the  rule  over  the  northern  states,  as  at  the 
south.  Summer  ripened,  passed  September,  and 
the  season  lapsed  to  serene  October,  ran  to  its 
middle,  passed  that.  Can  any  man  now  tell  how, 
of  whom  he  first  heard  it — the  strangest  thing  in 
American  history?  It  stole  upon  men's  con 
sciousness  in  a  day  of  absolute  serene  repose,  that 
seventeenth  of  October,  1859.  John  Brown  at  the 
head  of  an  armed  band — seventeen — was  in  posses 
sion  of  the  armory — the  arsenal — at  Harper's  Ferry, 
had  fortified  it,  was  besieged  by  a  Virginian  army 
there.  Never  such  a  prodigy  dropped  from  the 
serene  heavens  on  the  unexpectant  earth,  nor 
ever  one  of  more  awful  portent.  Men  did  not 
believe  it.  It  grew  upon  them — was  true.  The 
north  had  heard  of  John  Brown.  What  they  had 
heard  came  warped,  refracted  by  the  Kansas  at 
mosphere.  They  knew  nothing  of  the  darker  lines 
and  shades,  if  not  stains,  which,  estimated  in  the 
white  light  of  to-day,  make  men  wish  to  account 
for  as  the  product  of  a  sadly  unbalanced  intellect. 


B.  F.    WADE.  223 

That  really  was  the  tocsin  ringing  out  through 
the  land — heard  through  all  lands — the  foe  is 
coming  !  Arm  !  Arm  !  On  the  reassembling  of 
congress  scarcely  had  the  senate  come  together  on 
call,  when  Mason  of  Virginia  offered  his  resolution 
of  investigation  into  that  deplorable  affair. 

It  was  the  hope,  the  expectation,  to  fasten  at 
least  the  odium,  probably  the  responsibility,  of  this 
hair-brained  adventure  upon  anti-slavery  Republican 
north.  Mr.  Trumbull  moved  an  important  amend 
ment.  No  Republican  opposed  investigation.  The 
southern  leaders  were  first  heard — bitter,  denuncia 
tory,  yet  with  a  common  air  of  self-gratulation,  of 
incipient  triumph.  Abolitionism  was  about  to  be 
delivered  into  their  hands.  The  account  of  blood 
scored  against  them  in  Kansas  would  now  be  set 
off,  balanced.  Mr.  Wade  addressed  the  senate 
early  in  the  debate.  He  would  not  speak  but  for 
the  extraordinary  language  of  the  Virginia  sena 
tors.  Obviously  the  intention  was  to  swell  the 
present  great  volume  of  public  excitement.  He 
had  been  specially  referred  to.  It  was  declared 
that  one  purpose  was  to  ascertain  the  feeling  of 
the  north  in  regard  to  the  act.  The  purpose  to 
make  it  particeps  in  sympathy.  Mr.  Mason 
explained.  His  colleague,  Hunter,  may  have  said 
some  such  thing.  Mr.  Wade  cared  little  which 
of  them  said  it.  He  sketched  the  career  of  Brown 
in  Kansas,  spoke  of  his  personal  qualities,  of  his 
march  on  Harper's  Ferry,  quoted  Governor  Wise's 
encomium  of  him,  and  showed  the  absurdity  of 


224  B.  F.    WADE. 

attempting  to  make  the  north  responsible  for  him  ; 
quoted  the  declarations  of  the  older  great  southern 
men  from  Jefferson  to  Clay  against  slavery,  to 
show  how  widely  and  fatally  the  south  had 
departed  from  their  teachings.  The  tone  of  the 
whole  was  moderate,  the  temper  admirable.  I 
quote  an  average  passage : 

Do  I  stand  here  to  accuse  a  gentleman  who  is  a  slaveholder  of  the 
south  with  crime?  I  have  never  done  so.  You  may  say  that  if  we 
regard  slavery  as  wrong,  and  as  a  robbery  of  the  rights  of  men,  we 
should  accuse  you  of  being  criminal.  Well  sir,  the  logic  would  seem 
to  be  good  enough,  were  it  not  modified  by  the  fact  that  with  you  it  is 
deemed  a  necessity.  I  do  not  know  what  you  can  do  with  it  ;  I  was 
almost  about  to  say  that  I  do  not  care  what  you  do  with  it  ;  I  will  say, 
it  is  none  of  my  business  what  you  do  with  it,  and  I  never  undertake 
to  interfere  with  it.  To  be  sure,  believing  it  to  be  wrong — wrong  to 
yourselves  and  wrong  to  those  whom  you  hold  in  this  abject  condition 
— I  wish  that  you  could  see  the  light  as  I  see  it  ;  but  if  you  do  not,  it 
is  a  matter  of  your  own  concern,  and  not  of  mine.  I  can  very  well 
have  charity  towards  you,  because  with  all  my  opposition  to  your  insti 
tution,  I  can  hardly  doubt  that  if  we  had  changed  places,  and  my  lot 
had  been  cast  among  you,  under  like  circumstances,  my  opinions  on 
this  subject  might  be  different,  and  I  might  be  here,  perhaps,  as  fierce 
a  fire-eater  as  I  am  now  defending  against  fire.  I  can  understand 
these  things,  and  I  accuse  no  man. 

This  was  the  man  who  defied  Toombs.  He  was 
in  the  ascendant  now. 

John  Sherman  had  already  gained  the  enmity 
of  the  southerners.  Had  been  assailed  on  the 
floor  of  the  senate.  Thus  Mr.  Wade  defended 
him  : 

There  is  one  thing  more  which  I  will  notice  in  passing.  The  sena 
tor  from  Georgia  [Mr.  Iverson]  saw  fit,  in  his  place  in  the  senate,  to 
assail  my  colleague  in  the  house  of  representatives  (Mr.  Sherman),  and 
to  impeach  him  because  of  a  transaction  which  he  characterized  as 
exceedingly  dishonorable,  and  which  he  thought  should  go  to  destroy 


B.  F.    WADE.  225 

that  confidence  that  is  reposed  in  one  so  situated.  When  I  heard  his 
denunciations  I  was  happy  to  find  that  the  senator  did  not  accuse  Mr. 
Sherman  of  any  erroneous  vote,  or  of  any  wrong  action.  Mr.  Sher 
man's  course,  in  the  other  branch  of  congress,  has  been  known  of  all 
men  for  some  four  years  past.  He  has  been  a  very  active  and  a  very 
worthy  member  ;  and  if  there  is  anything  wrong  in  any  principle  that 
he  had  advocated  or  any  vote  that  he  has  given,  I  am  sure  that  the 
vigilance  of  that  astute  senator  would  have, found  it  out.  I  say,  then,  I 
was  exceedingly  gratified  to  find  that  my  friend  in  the  otherhouse  was  so 
little  assailable  upon  this  floor,  or  anywhere  else.  We  consider  him  as 
one  of  the  brightest  ornaments  of  the  state  of  Ohio.  That  great  state 
seeks  to  do  him  honor,  and  I  rejoice  to  know  that  the  great  party  to 
which  I  belong  repose  in  him  the  utmost  confidence.  They  have  found 
nothing  in  him  but  what  they  approve  ;  and  the  senator,  after  all  his 
investigations,  could  not  find  more  than  this,  that  Mr.  Sherman  had 
recommended  the  circulation  of  a  certain  book.*  Now,  I  want  to  ask 
the  senator  if  there  is  anything  in  that  book  that  he  thinks  dangerous 
to  the  people  of  any  section  of  this  country  ?  I  want  to  know  from  that 
senator  if  he  believes  that  book  cannot  safely  be  intrusted  to  the  hands 
of  any  freeman  in  this  government  ?  The  senator  does  not  choose  to 
answer  me. 

Mr.  Iverson.  Mr.  President,  I  do  not  choose  to  stultify  myself  by 
answering  any  such  question  as  that.  It  is  too  apparent  to  any  man 
of  common  sense  who  has  read  the  book,  what  would  be  the  effect  if 
its  recommendations  were  carried  out. 

Mr.  Wade.  Well,  sir,  since  the  question  has  been  up,  I  have  taken 
some  pains  to  look  through  that  book,  and  I  find  nothing  there  but  ar 
guments  addressed  by  a  non  slaveholder  of  a  slaveholding  state  to  his 
fellow  non-slaveholders  in  those  states,  laying  down  rules  and  regula 
tions  for  their  proceedings,  and  arguing  this  great  question  of  slavery 
as  it  affects  the  interests  of  non-slaveholders  in  the  slaveholding  states. 
Unless  such  arguments  are  unlawful  there,  I  see  nothing  in  the  book 
but  what  is  proper  for  the  consideration  of  all  men,  who  take  an  inter 
est  in  these  matters.  Why,  sir,  has  it  come  to  this,  in  free  America, 
that  there  must  be  a  censorship  of  the  press  instituted — that  a  man  can 

*'  Impending  crisis  of  the  South, '  by  Hinton  Rowan  Helper  of  North 
Carolina — must  be  the  book — presenting  a  sharp  and  startling  eco 
nomic  view  of  slave  and  free  industries  contrasted,  now  forgotten.  Mr. 
Helper  secured  a  recommendation  of  it  by  many  members  of  the  house. 
He  and  his  book  were  banished  the  south,  and  the  gentlemen  indors 
ing  it,  one  and  all,  tabooed  by  southern  men. 


226  B.  F.    WADE. 

not  give  currency  to  a  book  containing  arguments  that  he  thinks  es 
sentially  affect  the  rights  of  whole  classes  of  the  free  population  of  this 
nation  ?  I  hope  not,  and  I  believe  not. 

Why,  sir,  the  great  body  of  the  statistical  information  in  that  book, 
as  I  read  it,  is  drawn  from  the  census  of  the  United  States,  from  your 
public  documents,  and  from  the  archives  of  the  nation.  Is  it  improper 
that  arguments  deduced  from  these  sources  should  be  addressed  to  the 
free  population  of  .this  country  anywhere?  If  they  may  not  be,  it  is 
the  hardest  argument  against  the  institution  I  have  yet  heard.  If 
we  really  have  an  institution  that  we  cherish — are  seeking  to  spread 
over  our  land,  so  delicate  in  its  texture  that  the  free  people  can  not 
have  information  that  they  themselves  claim-  I  say  again,  it  is  fraught 
with  an  inference  more  fatal  to  that  institution  than  any  I  have  heard 
of  yet. 

The  following,  the  closing  paragraphs,  are  a  fair 
specimen  of  his  method  and  style  of  speech,  as  of 
his  dealing  with  the  southerns: 

Mr.  President,  I  have  pursued  this  subject  much  further  than  I  in 
tended  when  I  arose.  I  have  heard  the  muttering  thunder  of  disunion 
greeting  my  ears  through  all  the  southern  hemisphere.  .  All  your  prin 
cipal  papers  have  already  fixed  upon  a  contingency  when  this  Union 
shall  end.  In  some  of  the  southern  states,  if  I  read  aright,  proceedings 
are  pending  now,  having  for  their  object  an  overturning  of  this  govern 
ment,  and  the  erection  upon  its  ruins  of  a  southern  Confederacy  ;  and 
this  idea  is  brought  into  the  halls  of  congress,  and  we  are  compelled 
to  listen  by  the  hour  to  speeches,  filled  with  denunciations  of  our  party, 
telling  us  that  the  Union  is  to  be  dissolved  if  the  people  elect  as  Pres 
ident  an  honorable  man,  of  a  great  predominant  party,  holding  to 
principles  precisely  such  as  the  old  fathers  of  the  government  held. 
The  Republican  platform  is  nothing  more  nor  less  than  the  old  Repub 
lican  platform,  marking  the  land-marks  of  the  government  as  laid  down 
by  them.  We  claim jno  more  ;  we  claim  to  live  up  to  those  doctrines  ; 
we  claim  not  to  harm  the  hair  of  the  head  of  any  section  of  this  Union! 
and  yet  we  are  to  be  told  by  the  hour  that  if  we  succeed  in  wresting 
this  government  from  your  hands,  and  placing  a  constitutional  man  in 
that  great  office,  according  to  the  forms  of  the  constitution,  you  will 
nevertheless  make  this  a  contingency  on  which  you  will  disrupt  and 
destroy  the  government. 

I  say  to  gentlemen  on  the  other  side,  these  are  very  harsh  doctrines 

to  preach  in  our  ears.     What,  sir,  are  you  going  to  play  this  game  with 

L      go  into  the  election  with  us,  with  a  settled  purpose  and 


B.   F.    WADE.  227 

design,  that  if  you  win  you  will  take  all  the  honors  and  emoluments 
and  offices  of  the  government  into  your  own  clutches  ;  but  if  we  win, 
you  will  break  up  the  establishment  and  turn  your  backs  on  us?  Is 
that  the  fair  dealing  to  which  we  are  invited  ?  I  am  happy  to  know 
that  you  propose  to  make  that  contingency  turn  upon  an  event  that 
will  make  it  impossible  to  be  consummated.  The  government,  to-day, 
is  all  in  your  hands  ;  it  has  been  in  your  hands  for  years  ;  you  are  par 
taking  of  all  its  emoluments,  all  its  measures  you  have  moulded,  and 
you  have  designated  the  men  who  receive  its  honors.  Year  after  year 
you  have  done  this,  and  men  have  come  here  from  the  free  states,  men 
holding  our  opinions  ;  we  have  sat  here  patiently,  but  we  have  been 
deprived  of  all  the  honors  and  emoluments  that  flow  from  this  govern 
ment,  as  though  we  were  its  enemies  ;  but  did  we  ever  complain  ?  Not 
at  all.  We  did  not  expect  that  we  should  share  any  of  those  favors, 
unless  it  should  be  so  that  our  glorious  [principles  should  commend 
themselves  to  a  majority  of  the  people  of  these  United  States. 

But,  sir,  if  it  should  turn  out  so — and  Heaven  only  knows  whether  it 
will  or  not — I  give  gentlemen  now  to  understand,  this  Union  will  not 
easily  be  disrupted.  Gentlemen  talk  about  it  in  a  very  business-like 
way,  as  though  it  were  a  magazine  to  be  blown  up  whenever  you  touch 
the  fire  to  it  ;  as  if,  on  a  given  day,  at  amoment's  warning,  at  your  own 
election,  at  any  time  and  in  any  event,  you  can  dissolve  the  bonds  of 
this  great  Union.  Do  you  not  know,  sir,  that  this  great  fabric  has 
been  more  than  eighty  years  in  building,  and  do  you  believe  you  can 
destroy  it  in  a  day  ?  I  tell  you,  nay. 

Sir,  when  you  talk  so  coolly  about  dissolving  this  Union,  do  you 
know  the  difficulties  through  which  you  will  have  to  wade  before  that 
end  can  be  consummated  ;  have  you  reflected  that  between  the  north 
and  the  south  there  are  no  mountain  ranges  that  are  impassable,  and 
no  desert  wastes  which  commonly  divide  great  nations  one  from  an 
other  ?  Do  you  not  know  that,  whether  we  love  one  another  or  not, 
we  are  from  the  same  stock,  speak  the  same  language  ;  and  although 
institutions  have  made  considerable  difference  between  us,  the  great 
Anglo-Saxon  type  pervades  the  whole.  We  are  bound  together  by  great 
navigable  rivers,  interlacing  and  linking  together  all  the  states  of  this 
Union.  Innumerable  railroads  also  connect  us,  and  an  immense 
amount  of  commerce  binds  all  the  parts,  besides  domestic  relations  in 
a  thousand  ways.  And  do  you  believe  you  can  rend  all  this  asunder 
without  a  struggle?  I  tell  you,  sir,  you  will  search  history  in  vain  for 
a  precedent  ;  there  has  been  no  such  government  as  this  that  was  ever 
rent  asunder  by  any  internal  commotion.  I  know  that  Poland  was 
broken  up  and  divided,  but  it  was  by  external  force.  We  are  found  in 


228  B.  F.    WADE. 

the  same  ship  ;  we  are  married  forever,  for  better  or  for  worse.  We 
may  make  our  condition  very  uncomfortable  by  bickerings  if  we  will, 
but  nevertheless  there  can  be  no  divorcement  between  us.  There  is  no 
way  by  which  either  one  section  or  the  other  can  get  out  of  the  Union. 
I  do  not  say  whether  it  is  desirable  or  not.  There  is  no  way  by  which 
it  can  be  effected,  but  least  of  all  on  the  contingency  that  you  have 
spoken  of.  I  tell  the  senator  from  Georgia,  if  you  wait  until  a  Repub 
lican  President  is  elected,  you  will  wait  a  day  too  late.  Why  not  do 
it  now,  when,  I  say  again,  you  have  the  government  in  your  own  hands? 
Why  tell  us  that  it  is  to  be  done  when  our  candidate  is  elected  ?  I 
say  to  you,  Mr.  President,  he  would  be  but  a  sorry  Republican  who, 
elected  by  a  majority  of  the  votes  of  the  American  people,  and  conse 
quently  backed  by  them,  should  fail  to  vindicate  his  right  to  the  Pres 
idential  chair.  He  will  do  it. 

No  man  in  the  north  is  to  be  intimidated  by  these  threats  of  disso 
lution  that  are  thrown  into  our  teeth  daily,  and  I  ask  senators  on  the 
other  side,  why  do  you  do  it  ?  I  know  not  what  motive  you  can  have 
in  preaching  the  dissolution  of  this  Union  day  by  day.  If  you  are 
going  to  do  it,  is  it  necessary  to  give  us  notice  of  it  ?  There  is  no  law 
requiring  that  you  should  serve  notice  on  us  that  you  are  going  to  dis 
solve  the  Union  ;  [laughter]  and  I  should  think  it  would  be  better  to 
do  it  at  once,  and  to  do  it  without  alarming  our  vigilance.  It  grates 
harshly  on  my  ears  ;  and  I  say  to  gentlemen,  that  if  a  Republican  Pres 
ident  shall  be  constitutionally  elected  to  preside  for  the  next  four  years 
over  this  people,  my  word  for  it,  preside  he  will.  Do  not  senators 
know  that  an  attempt  to  dissolve  this  Union  implies  civil  war,  with  all 
its  attendant  horrors  ;  the  marching  and  countermarching  of  vast 
armies  ;  battles  to  be  fought,  and  oceans  of  blood  to  be  spilled,  with 
all  the  vindictive  malice  and  ill-will  that  civil  war  never  fails  to  bring  ? 
And  do  gentlemen  believe  the  wild  tumult  of  such  a  struggle  peculiarly 
favorable  to  the  growth  and  perpetuity  of  this  delicate  institution  ? 
Why,  sir,  if  it  can  not  stand  the  mild  arguments  of  Helper's  book,  how 
can  it  abide  the  ultimate  shock  of  arms?  But,  Mr.  President,  such 
things  shall  never  be.  The  souls  and  bodies  of  traitors  may  dissolve 
on  the  gibbet,  but  this  Union  shall  stand  forever. 

Mr.  President,  I  have  said  all  and  more  than  I  intended,  and  I  re 
gret  that  it  has  become  necessary  for  me  to  say  anything  on  account  of 
what  has  been  said  on  the  other  side.  I  regret  that  at  this  early  period 
of  the  session  we  should  get  interlocked  with  this  old  controversy.  I 
wish  it  might  have  been  postponed.  I  shall  vote  for  this  resolution 
most  cheerfully,  and  will  give  it  the  furthest  and  most  extended  sweep 
that  you  may  desire,  because  it  is  my  wish,  if  there  is  any  misunder- 


B.  F.    WADE.  229 

standing  with  regard  to  the  participants  in  this  affair,  that  you  should 
have  the  greatest  latitude  that  you  can  desire  to  ferret  them  out,  and 
make  them  known  to  the  public. 

One  of  the  most  extended  of  Mr.  Wade's  earliest 
speeches,  was  that  on  Senator  Brown's  resolutions, 
that  the  territories  were  the  property  of  all  the 
people  alike,  to  be  enjoyed  by  each  with  his 
property  of  every  species  alike,  delivered  January 
18,  1860.  It  covers  the  whole  field,  was  one  of 
his  best  considered,  compact,  sustained  level 
efforts  ;  without  flights,  without  depressions  or 
weak  places.  A  deliberate,  calm  speaker,  glowing 
only  with  mind  at  full  play,  he  alway  extempor 
ized,  without  note  or  memoranda  of  any  kind.  It 
will  even  now  well  repay  perusal.  The  moral 
right  of  slavery  had  been  stoutly  contended  for. 
I  quote  what  he  says  of  this  with  the  residue,  from 
the  bottom  of  p.  12  of  a  popular  edition. 

I  have  nothing  to  say  of  slavery  in  the  states.  I  do  not  wish  to  say, 
and  would  not  say,  a  word  about  it,  because  I  am  candid  enough  to 
confess  that  I  do  not  know  what  you  can  do  with  it  there.  I  want  no 
finger  with  it  in  your  own  states.  I  leave  it  to  yourselves.  It  is  bad 
enough,  to  be  sure,  that  four  millions  of  unpaid  labor  now  is  operating 
there,  in  competition  with  the  free  labor  of  the  north  ;  but  I  have  noth 
ing  to  say  of  that.  Within  your  own  boundaries,  conduct  it  your  own 
way  ;  but  it  is  wrong.  Your  new  philosophy  cannot  stand  the  scrutiny 
of  the  present  age.  It  is  a  departure  from  the  views  and  principles  of 
your  fathers  ;  yea,  it  is  founded  in  the  selfishness  and  cupidity  of  man, 
and  not  in  the  justice  of  God.  There  is  the  difficulty  with  your  institu- 
tution.  There  is  what  makes  you  fear  that  it  may,  sooner  or  later,  be 
overturned  ;  but,  sir,  I  shall  do  nothing  to  overturn  it.  If  I  could  do  it 
with  the  wave  of  my  hand  in  your  states,  I  should  not  know  how  to  do 
it,  or  what  you  should  do.  All  I  say  is,  that,  in  the  vast  territories  of 
this  nation,  I  will  allow  no  such  curse  to  have  a  foothold.  If  I  am 
right,  and  slavery  stands  branded  and  condemned  by  the  God  of 
nature,  then,  for  Heaven's  sake  go  with  me  to  limit  it,  and  not  propa- 


230  B.  F.   WADE. 

gate  this  curse.  I  am  candid  enough  to  admit  that  you  gentlemen  on 
the  other  side,  if  you  ever  become  convinced,  as  I  doubt  not  you  will, 
that  this  institution  does  not  stand  by  the  rights  of  nature  nor  by  the 
will  of  God,  you  yourselves  will  be  willing  to  put  a  limit  to  it.  You 
have  only  departed  because  your  philosophy  has  led  you  away.  Sir,  I 
leave  you  with  the  argument. 

And  now  Mr.  President,  in  conclusion,  I  would  ask  senators  what 
they  find  in  the  Republican  party  that  is  so  repulsive  to  them  that  they 
must  lay  hold  of  the  pillars  of  this  Union,  and  demolish  and  destroy 
the  noblest  government  that  has  ever  existed  among  men?  For  what? 
Not  certainly  for  any  evil  we  have  done  ;  for,  as  I  said  to  start  with, 
you  are  more  prosperous  now  than  you  ever  were  before.  What  are 
our  principles?  Our  principles  are  only  these  :  we  hold  that  you  shall 
limit  slavery.  Believing  it  wrong,  believing  it  inconsistent  with  the 
best  interests  of  the  people,  we  demand  that  it  shall  be  limited  ;  and 
this  limitation  is  not  hard  upon  you,  because  you  have  land  enough  for 
a  population  as  large  as  Europe,  and  century  after  century  must  roll 
away  before  you  can  occupy  what  you  now  have.  The  next  thing 
which  we  hold,  and  which  I  have  not  time  to  discuss,  is  the  great  prin 
ciple  of  the  homestead  bill — a  measure  that  will  be  up  I  trust  this  ses 
sion,  and  which  I  shall  ask  to  press  through,  as  the  greatest  measure  I 
know  of  to  mold  in  the  right  direction  the  territories  belonging  to  this 
nation  ;  to  build  up  a  free  yeomanry  capable  of  maintaining  an  inde 
pendent  republican  government  forever.  We  demand,  also,  that  there 
shall  be  a  protection  to  our  own  labor  against  the  pauper  labor  o 
Europe.  We  have  alway  contended  for  it,  but  you  have  always 
stricken  it  down. 

These  are  the  measures,  and  these  are  the  only  measures,  I  know  of 
that  the  great  Republican  party  now  stand  forth  as  the  advocates  of.  Is 
there  anything  repulsive  or  wrong  about  them?  You  may  not  agree  to 
them  ;  you  may  differ  as  to  our  views ;  but  is  there  anything  in  them 
that  should  make  traitors  of  us,  that  should  lead  a  man  to  pull  down  the 
pillars  of  his  government,  and  bury  it  up,  in  case  we  succeed  ?  Sir( 
these  principles  for  which  we  contend  are  as  old  as  the  government  it 
self.  They  stand  upon  the  very  foundation  of  those  who  framed  your 
constitution.  They  are  rational  and  right ;  they  are  the  concessions 
that  ought  to  be  made  to  northern  labor  against  you,  who  have  monop 
olized  four  millions  of  compulsory  labor  and  uncompensated  labor,"  in 
competition  with  us. 

There  is  one  thing  more  that  1  wil  say  before  I  sit  down  ;  but  what 
I  am  now  about  to  propose  is  not  part  and  parcel  of  the  Republican 
platform,  that  I  know  of.  There  is  in  these  United  States  a  race  of 


B.  F.   WADE.  231 

men  who  are  poor,  weak,  uninfluential,  incapable  of  taking  care  of  them 
selves.  I  mean  the  free  negroes,  who  are  despised  by  all,  repudiated 
by  all  ;  outcasts  upon  the  face  of  the  earth,  without  any  fault  of  theirs 
that  I  know  of;  but  they  are  the  victims  of  a  deep-rooted  prejudice, 
and  I  do  not  stand  here  to  argue  whether  that  prejudice  be  right  or 
wrong.  I  know  such  to  be  the  fact.  It  is  there  immovable.  It  is  per 
fectly  impossible  that  these  two  races  can  inhabit  the  same  place,  and 
be  prosperons  and  happy.  I  see  that  this  species  of  population  are 
just  as  abhorrent  to  the  southern  states,  and  perhaps  more  so,  than  to 
the  north.  Many  of  those  states  are  now,  as  I  think,  passing  unjust 
laws  to  drive  these  men  off  or  subject  them  to  slavery  ;  they  are  flock 
ing  into  the  free  states,  and  we  have  objections  to  them.  Now,  the 
proposition  is,  that  this  great  government  owes  it  to  justice,  owes  it  to 
those  individuals,  owes  it  to  itself  and  to  the  free  white  population  of 
the  nation,  to  provide  a  means  whereby  this  class  of  unfortunate  men 
may  emigrate  to  some  congenial  clime,  where  they  may  be  maintained 
to  the  mutual  benefit  of  all,  both  white  and  black.  This  will  insure  a 
separation  of  the  races.  Let  them  go  into  the  tropics.  There  I  under 
stand,  are  vast  tracts  of  the  most  fertile  and  inviting  land,  in  a  climate 
perfectly  congenial  to  that  class  of  men,  where  the  negro  will  be  pre 
dominant  ;  where  his  nature  seems  to  be  improved,  and  all  his  faculties, 
both  mental  and  physical,  are  fully  developed,  and  where  the  white 
man  degenerates  in  the  same  proportion  as  the  black  man  prospers. 
Let  them  go  there  ;  let  them  be  separated  ;  it  is  easy  to  do  it.  I 
understand  that  negotiations  may  easily  be  effected  with  many  of  the 
Central  American  states,  by  which  they  will  take  these  people,  and 
confer  upon  them  homesteads,  confer  upon  them  great  privileges,  if 
they  will  settle  there.  They  are  so  easy  of  access  that,  a  nucleus  being 
formed,  they  will  go  of  themselves  and  relieve  us  of  the  burden.  They 
will  be  so  far  removed  from  us  that  they  cannot  form  a  disturbing  ele 
ment  in  our  political  economy.  The  far-reaching  sagacity  of  Thomas 
Jefferson  and  others  suggested  this  plan.  Nobody  that  I  know  of  ash 
found  a  better.  I  understand,  too,  that  in  these  regions,  to  which  I 
would  let  them  go,  there  is  no  prejudice  against  them.  All  colors 
seem  there  to  live  in  common,  and  they  would  be  glad  that  these  men 
should  go  among  them. 

I  say  that  I  hope  this  great  principle  will  be  engrafted  into  our  plat 
form  as  a  fundamental  article  of  our  faith,  for  I  hold  that  the  govern 
ment  that  fails  to  defend  and  secure  any  such  dependent  class  of  free 
men  in  the  possession  of  life,  liberty  and  happiness,  is  to  that  extent  a 
tyranny  and  despotism.  I  hope  after  that  is  done,  to  hear  no  more 
about  the  negro  equality  or  anything  of  that  kind.  Sir,  we  shall  be 


23 2  B.  F,   WADE. 

as  glad  to  rid  ourselves  of  these  people,  if  we  can  do  it  consistently  with 
justice,  as  anybody  else  can.  We  will  not,  however,  perpetrate  injustice 
against  them.  We  will  not  drive  them  out,  but  we  will  use  every  in 
ducement  to  pursuade  these  unfortunate  men  to  find  a  home  there,  so 
as  to  separate  the  races,  and  all  will  go  better  than  it  can  under  any 
other  system  that  we  can  devise.  I  say  again,  I  hope  that  the  demand 
of  justice  and  good  policy  will  be  complied  with  ;  and  by  the  consent 
of  all,  this  will  be  done  ;  and  if  it  is  not  done  with  the  assent  of  all,  I  do 
hope  it  will  be  part  and  parcel  of  the  great  Republican  platform  ;  for  I 
think  it  consists  with  right,  with  justice,  and  with  a  proper  regard  for 
the  welfare  of  these  unfortunate  men. 

Many  new  men  appeared  in  the  thirty-sixth 
congress,  especially  in  the  house.  Among"  them 
Charles  Francis  Adams,  Roscoe  Conkling;  William 
Windom,  Holmari  and  Porter  of  Indiana.  Cor- 
win  reappeared  there,  Ashley  and  Hutchins  with 
him  from  Ohio — her  people  exchanging  Joshua  R. 
Giddings  for  John  Hutchins.  Van  Wyck  came  in 
with  Conkling  and  Reagan  from  Texas,  Roger  A. 
Pryor  from  Virginia  and  John  F.  Potter  from  Wis 
consin. 

The  house  had  an  extraordinary  experience  in 
reaching  that  parliamentary  form.  Mr.  Sherman 
had  exhibited  in  his  Kansas  mission  unusual  high 
qualities  of  courage,  tact  and  coolness.  The  Re 
publicans  placed  him  in  nomination  for  speaker — 
if  possible  a  more  trying  position  through  the  pro 
tracted  struggle,  and,  though  he  failed  in  reaching 
the  desk  and  gavel,  he  was  not  defeated  in  the 
higher  sense.  Such  men  seldom  are.  His  party 
finally  withdrew  him  and  succeeded  in  electing 
Pennington  of  New  Jersey. 

1860 — characters  of  fire  inscribed  on  its  page 
of  the  American  chronicle.  It  saw  the  mar- 


B.  F.    WADE.  233 

shaled  forces  of  the  great  antagonists,  in  citizens' 
panoply,  in  the  ordained  forms  of  trie-law,  on  the 
national  field,  to  determine,  by  sheer  weight  of 
numbers,  the  great  contest,  so  far  as  political  action 
could  settle  it — so  far  as  a  continuance  or  transfer 
of  the  legislative  and  executive  power  of  the  gov 
ernment  could  determine  it.  Beyond  was  acquies 
cence  or  armed  aggression.  The  contest  of  '56  was 
but  a  test  of  strength  and  skill  on  the  part  of  the 
youthful  party.  Now  mature  and  confident,  it  se 
lected  its  leader  with  the  utmost  care  and  con 
fidence.  Defeat  to  it,  postponement  only.  To 
the  host  of  slavery  defeat  was  destruction.  So  its 
leaders  regarded  and  proclaimed.  Destruction  of 
the  old  and  a  recasting  in  new  forms  was  the 
translation. 

Mr.  Douglas  acted  in  character  throughout  the 
great  struggle.  Mr.  Buchanan  sent  Kansas  with 
the  Border  Ruffian  Lecompton  constitution  to  con 
gress  for  admission.  "  Stimulated  by  Broderick, 
there  occurred  the  fatal  parting.  The  south  were 
imperious  for  a  slave  state.  Douglas  was  not  ready 
for  that.  It  would  assuredly  lose  him  Illinois,  cut 
the  political  earth  from  under  his  feet.  Lecompton 
was  carried  through  the  senate,  thirty-three  to 
twenty-five.  Broderick,  Pugh  and  Stuart,  with 
Douglas,  Crittenden  and  Bell  were  with  the  Re 
publicans  on  this.  The  administration  was  power 
less  in  the  house.  Then  came  the  infamous  Eng 
lish*  scheme  to  bribe  the  settlers  of  Kansas  to 

*  The  late  Democratic  candidate  for  vice-president,  English. 


234  B.  F.    WADE. 

adopt  the  Lecompton  constitution — it  had  of 
course  never  been  voted  upon,  even  by  the  Border 
Ruffians— by  a  huge  land  grant  Notwithstanding 
the  defection  of  ten  or  twelve  Democrats,  this 
scheme  passed  the  house,  one  hundred  and  twelve 
to  one  hundred  and  fifty-three.  Of  course  it 
passed  the  senate,  f 

One  fair  vote  was  accorded  Kansas,  and  she  re 
jected  the  offer  by  a  majority  of  ten  thousand.  With 
prestige  somewhat  regained  at  the  north,  Douglas 
made  the  great  contest  with  Lincoln  of  Illinois. 
It  was  a  struggle  for  the  Presidency.  Douglas 
retained  his  seat.  He  lost  the  south,  divided  the 
Democratic  party,  and  it  was  thus  that  the  north 
and  south  came  to  stand  in  array  against  each 
other.  In  his  absence  he  was  in  effect  cut  off  by 
a  set  of  resolutions  passed  in  the  senate.  Douglas 
replied  by  letter.  All  this  preceded  the  actual 
arraying  offerees  on  the  field  in  1860. 

The  struggle  between  the  Democratic  factions 
came  off  in  April  at  Charleston.  On  the  great 
test  question  Douglas  beat  the  south.  It  seceded 
as  usual,  and  nominated  Breckenridge  and  Lane. 
The  Douglas  wing  adjourned  to  Baltimore  and 
nominated  him  and  Johnson,  Hershel  V. 

Meantime  the  fossilized  Whigs,   the  remains  of 
the    American    Knownothing — do    nothing    men, 
who  would  not  act  with  either  wing  of  the  Demo- 

f  Mr.  Cox  makes  much  of  his  vote  vs.  the  Lecompton  constitution. 
He  says  nothing  of  his  vote  for  the  English  bill.  See  his  '  Three  De 
cades  in  Congress.' 


B.  F.    WADE.  235 

crats,  and  stood  still  while  the  Republicans  went 
on — put  Bell  and  Everett  in  nomination  at  Balti 
more.  There  are  men  with  their  faces  ever  toward 
the  past,  who,  like  the  fabled  gnomes  said  to  haunt 
and  linger  about  the  place  where  their  dead  treas 
ures  are  buried,  never  can  be  induced  to  go  for 
ward  with  their  age — Conservatives. 

The  story  of  the  Chicago  convention  of  1860,  its 
men  and  doings,  is  not  even  to  be  glanced  at.  It 
is  everywhere  written  in  word  and  deed.  Nor  yet 
of  the  great  campaign  it  inaugurated.  Men  see 
the  hand  of  providence,  luck,  fortune,  as  their 
temperaments  or  habits  of  mind  may  be,  in  the 
division  of  the  Democratic  party.  It  rendered  the 
success  of  the  Republicans  certain.  Suppose  the 
Democrats  had  taken  the  Douglas  platform  with 
himself  and  Breckenridge  on  it.  The  south  would 
have  been  as  certain.  On  his  platform  north, 
what  would  have  been  the  result  ?  Fortunately 
the  question  is  without  practical  interest.  It  is 
probable  that  the  Republicans  would  then  have 
beaten  Douglas.  Many  Democrats,  more  Know- 
nothings,  would  then  have  voted  for  Lincoln. 

The  popular  vote  stood:  for  Lincoln,!  ,866,352; 
Douglas,  1,375,157;  Breckenridge,  845,763;  Bell, 
589,581. 

Lincoln  received  one  hundred  and  eighty  elec 
toral  votes,  Breckenridge  seventy-two,  Bell  thirty- 
nine,  Douglas  twelve. 

These  figures  furnish  the  factors  of  curious  prob 
lems  under  our  complex  system  of  election. 


236  B.  F.    WADE. 

Under  constitutional  sanctions,  the  Republicans 
prevailed.  The  south,  still  in  full  possession  of  all 
the  departments  of  the  government,  executed  her 
threat.  Her  senators  departed  from  an  open 
session,  and,  through  the  door  thus  opened,  way 
worn,  heroic  Kansas  entered  the  indissoluble  Union. 

The  hands  of  one  of  the  great  orators  of  Greek 
tragedy,  wielding  the  forces  of  destiny,  could  have 
wrought  nothing  historically  more  dramatic  than 
this  closing  scene,  indeed  than  the  whole  of  this 
great  first  act,  from  the  formation  of  the  conspir 
acy,  the  gathering  of  the  forces,  the  confusion  and 
divison  of  the  more  powerful,  to  defeat  and  flight 
— historically,  the  whole  is  eminently  dramatic. 

These  wise,  poetic,  true-born  artists  never  ex 
hibited  blood  and  death  on  the  stage.  That  was 
always  within.  The  chorus  in  their  actual  pres 
ence,  saw  and  interpreted  to  the  outside  world.  In 
no  sense  shall  I  become  even  a  chorus.  Out 
side  scenes  will  have  but  scanty  mention. 

The  Thirty-sixth  congress  was  a  stormy,  not  to 
say  a  quarrelsome  body  of  men,  with  many  attrac 
tions  and  personal  scenes.  Conspicuous  was  the 
Pryor-Potter  episode.  The  Virginian  challenged 
the  western,  who  promptly  accepted  and  named 
bowie  knives.  The  southern  declined.  The  weap 
ons  were  not  the  arms  of  a  gentleman,  though 
eminently  southern.* 

Prior  was  more  fortunate  with  Edgerton. 

*  Thad   Stevens  thereupon    suggested    dungforks,      The  meeting 
never  took  place. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

Mr.  Lincoln  and  the  Thirty-seventh  Congress. — Their  Labor. — Condi 
tions.  — Blair.  — Wade.  — Stevens.  — Stan  ton.  —  Seward.  —Chase.  —The 
Crittenden  Resolutions.— Extra  Sesssion.— Bull  Run.— Wade  There. 
—Committee  on  Conduct  of  the  War.— Congress  Clarified.— Vir 
ginia. — Dismembered. — Vallandigham  and  the  Democracy. — Clamor 
Against  Mr.  Lincoln. — The  Davis-Wade  Manifesto.— The  Thirty- 
eighth  Conscription. — Schenck.— Garfield. — Blaine. 

THE  first  Continental  congress  was  the  natural 
product  of  its  time,  convened  to  give  expression 
to  its  sentiment,  and  take  counsel  of  its  exigencies. 
Washington  and  the  first  congress  under  the  new 
constitution  were  elected  to  put  its  new  machinery 
in  motion,  adjust,  superintend  and  impart  life  and 
vigor,  steadiness  and  courage  to  its  infant 
processes.  Mr.  Madison  was  elected,  as  was  the 
Twelfth  congress  with  him,  in  the  midst  of  the  then 
chronic  irritation  between  the  Republic  and  Great 
Britain,  and  with  the  expectation  of  war  between 
the  two  countries.  They  declared  and  fought  it. 
Each  body,  each  President  knew  what  he  was  elected 
to  do.  Mr.  Lincoln,  his  cabinet  and  the  Thirty- 
seventh  congress  were  elected  to  do  anything, 
everything,  except  what  fell  upon  them  to  do — 
fight  the  greatest  civil  war  of  all  history — one  of 


238  B.  F.    WADE. 

the  hugest  wars  of  modern  times,  involving  larger 
armies,  a  wider  theatre  than  any  of  the  Napoleonic 
wars.  It  came  upon  them  by  surprise  utter.  As 
we  have  seen,  mentally,  morally,  but  uncon 
sciously,  the  people  of  both  sides,  with  all  the 
leaders  of  the  north,  pressed  forward  blindly  to 
the  inevitable.  The  great  contest  passed  logically 
through  all  stages,  moral,  political,  legislative, 
judicial,  and  no  man  of  the  north,  few  of  the  south, 
were  in  the  least  aware  of  it,  until  armed  they 
confronted  each  other,  and  then  neither  believed 
the  other  intended  very  war.  It  amazes  us  now  to 
recall  how  utterly  we  misunderstood  each  other — 
one  and  all.  On  the  morning  of  February  n, 
1 86 1,  the  President-elect  started  on  his  memorable 
progress  through  the  northern  states  to  the  capital. 
He  reached  it  to  find  seven  states  of  the  Republic 
with  an  organized  government,  a  President  and 
congress,  its  seat  at  Montgomery.  Its  con 
gress  convened  there  the  fourth  of  the  same 
month,  organized,  adopted  a  constitution  the  sev 
enth,  and  elected  its  executive  the  eighth — three 
days  before  he  left  his  home  at  Springfield.  Mr. 
Lincoln  was  inaugurated  in  due  form,  in  the 
midst  of  secretly  armed  friends,  who  were  greatly 
relieved  when  they  saw  him  in  possession  of  the 
executive  mansion.  They  feared  assassination 
and  armed  riot,  to  suppress  which  General  Scott 
made  the  best  disposition  of  his  scant  force  possi 
ble,  and  with  his  officers  remained  in  command  of 
them.  Still  war  was  not  believed  in.  Nor  yet 


B.  P.    WAD^.  239 

when  the  forts  in  Charleston  harbor  were  reduced, 
even  then  the  assembling  of  congress  was  delayed 
till  July  Fourth. 

That  body  convened  to  find  over  three  hundred 
thousand  Union  soldiers  in  the  field.  On  the  day 
of  its  opening  there  were  twenty-five  thousand 
marched  through  Pennsylvania  avenue.  At  that 
time  quite  one-third  of  the  available  military  popu 
lation  of  the  south  were  under  arms,  from  its  then 
eleven  states,  with  its  capital  not  a  hundred  miles 
from  Washington.  How  much  time  and  blood  it 
cost  us  to  get  there  ! 

At  that  time  position  in  the  government,  execu 
tive  or  legislative,  did  not  indicate  the  real  position 
of  the  man  in  the  incipient,  rapidly  developing 
contest.  That  depended  entirely  upon  the  per 
sonal  qualities  of  the  individual.  In  such  times 
the  occasion  finds  them  out ;  elects  and  conducts 
them  to  their  places.  Mr.  Lincoln  was  not  elected 
to  carry  on  a  war,  had  few  of  the  qualities  save 
courage,  firmness,  purpose,  that  make  warriors. 
Nor  had  any  of  his  cabinet  larger  endowments  in 
that  direction  save  Montgomery  Blair.* 

In  the  senate  Wade,  Chandler,  Baker  and  one 
or  two  more  were  the  warriors.  Thad  Stevens  and 

*  He  not  only  had  enough  belligerency  for  the  cabinet— if  his  col 
leagues  would  share  it — for  the  war,  but  to  conduct  many  private  and 
personal  wars  at  the  same  time.  "  The  Blairs,"  said  he  to  me,  "when 
they  go  in  for  a  fight,  go  in  for  a  funeral."  He  was  at  feud  with  Stan- 
ton  before  the  rebellion — they  were  not  on  speaking  terms.  He 
soon  reached  the  same  stage  with  Chase,  in  which  Frank  Blair  was  his 
ally. 


240  B.  F.   WADE. 

a  very  few  of  the  house  had  fighting  qualities. 
Stanton,  when  he  reached  the  war  office,  developed 
the  native  elements  which  find  exercise  in  war. 
/Tie  and  Blair  agreed  in  two  things,  boundless  ad 
miration  and  confidence  in  Wade  and  determina 
tion  to  extinguish  the  rebellion.  'Blair  was  the 
only  man  who  had  a  just  conception  of  real  war. 
He  was  a  graduate  of  West  Point,  and  why  he  and 
Cameron  did  not  have  each  other's  places  doubt 
less  was  because  Mr.  Lincoln  did  not  expect  war. 
Mr.  Wade,  Stevens,  the  President,  Stanton,  and 
the  average  man  then  supposed  war  meant  to 
march  upon  the  enemy  by  the  shortest  route,  as 
sail,  hang  to  him,  and  lick  him  in  the  most  direct 
way  and  in  the  shortest  possible  time.  1  fear  all 
the  men  of  that  opening  day  had  the  same  idea, 
and  hence  the  "on  to  Richmond  "  cry.  Warriors 
are  born.  War  makes  soldiers,  and  by  a  slow  and 
awfully  expensive  process.  The  Indians  assemble 
the  warriors  of  the  tribe,  fight  a  battle  and  go 
home.  The  war  is  over.  We  were  aboriginal. 
By  strength  and  force  of  character,  indomitable, 
inflexible,  never  in  doubt  or  wavering,  with  a  fixed 
purpose  to  start  with. 

\_Mr.  Wade  soon  came  to  be  the  first  man  in  the 
senate.  His  qualities,  experience,  temper,  even 
level  headedness,  made  him  that.  The  American 
people  knew  little,  saw  little  of  the  men  in  con 
gress  during  the  entire  war,  and  cared  nothing  for 
them  so  that  they  created  and  supplied  the 


B.  F.    WADE.  241 

money  and  backed  Mr.  Lincoln  and  the  secretary 
of  war. 

Thad  Stevens,  "  Old  Thad,"  as  the  leader  of  the 
more  popular  house — nobody  cares  much  for  the 
senate,  save  to  get  into  it — was  the  popular  con 
gressional  idol  of  the  war.  Next  him  ranked 
Wade— "Old  Ben  Wade,"  as  he  had  already 
become.  Of  these  two  men,  with  Edwin  M. 
Stanton,  it  may  truly  be  said  they  were  the  most 
revolutionary  men  on  the  Union  side  of  our  history 
since  the  days  of  the  Adamses  and  Jefferson. 
They  had  one  purpose — the  extinction  of  the  re 
bellion.  Whatever  at  hand  seemed  best  fitted  for 
tfyat,  they  used.  No  scruple  of  the  written  consti 
tution  troubled  either.  The  conservative  notion 
of  preserving  the  constitution,  as  next  to  slavery, 
the  thing  not  to  be  touched,  always  provoked  their 
derision.  At  the  first,  the  rebels  depended  on  the 
constitution  to  ward  us  off. 3 

The  Thirty-sixth  congress,  although  it  organ 
ized  territories  without  excluding  slavery,  had  yet 
the  courage,  under  the  lead  of  Seward,  Wade  and 
Fessenden,  in  the  senate,  and  Stevens,  E.  B. 
Washburn,  Corwin,  Conkling,  Kelley  and  others, 
to  reject  the  Crittenden  compromise — an  amend 
ment  of  the  constitution  prohibiting  the  abolition 
of  slavery,  did  many  things  subservient  in  its  desire 
to  propitiate  the  south — it  may  well  be  questioned 
whether  that  body  ever  went  so  far  in  that  direction 
as  did  the  Thirty-seventh,  at  the  called  session  of 
July  Fourth. 


242  B.  F.    WADE. 

Mr.  Crittenden,  then  seventy-five  years  of  age, 
had  been  transferred  to  the  house,  to  make  room 
for  Breckenridge  in  the  senate,  produced  his 
scarcely  less  famous  resolution  in  the  house  the  day 
after  the  first  Bull  Run  battle.  The  first  part 
stated  that  the  war  existed  by  the  act  of  the  south. 
It  then  declared  its  purpose  and  limit,  on  the  part 
of  the  Union,  as  follows  : 

That  this  war  is  not  waged  on  their  part  in  any  spirit  of  oppression, 
or  for  any  purpose  of  conquest  or  subjugation,  or  purpose  of  overthrow 
ing  or  interfering  -with  the  rights  or  established  institutions  of  those 
states,  but  to  defend  and  maintain  the  SUPREMACY  of  the  constitution, 
and  to  preserve  the  Union,  with  all  the  dignity,  equality  and  rights  of 
the  several  states  unimpared  ;  and  that  as  soon  as  these  objects  are 
accomplished  the  war  ought  to  cease. 

On  the  full  house  this  without  a  word,  under  the 
previous  question,  passed,  one  hundred  and  sev 
enteen  for  to  two  against  it.  The  two  were  John 
F.  Potter  of  Wisconsin,  and  one  of  the  younger 
of  Ohio's  new  men.  Lovejoy,  though  in  his  seat, 
remained  silent.  It  was  passed  in  the  senate  after 
full  discussion,  by  thirty  for  to  five  against  it.  All 
the  northern  senators  voted  for  it,  save  Sumner, 
who  spoke,  but  did  not  vote,  and  Trumbull,  who 
voted  against  it  on  verbal  grounds  with  the  rebel 
Breckenridge,  and  Polk,  and  Johnson  of  Missouri, 
and  Powell.  Wade  and  Chandler  remained  silent 
and  voted  for  it.  Hale  did  not  vote.  The  slave 
holders  voted  against  it  because  it  charged  the  war 
upon  them. 

The  Republicans,  with  Stevens  and   all   of  the 


B.  F.   WADE.  243 

house,  would  then  so  wage  the  war  as  to  hurt  the 
south  the  least,  and  slavery  not  at  all.* 

The  resolution  as  the  unanimous  declaration  of 
congress,  so  significant  and  so  amazing,  which  no 
man  of  that  majority  now  speaks  of,  and  is  now  a 
curious  study,  was  everywhere  not  only  accepted 
north  but  constituted  the  state  platform  entire  of 
the  Ohio  Republicans  in  1863.  It  is  probable  this 
was  the  prudent,  the  wiser  course.  Perhaps  the 
cooler-headed  Wade,  Fessenden  and  Stevens  saw 
clearly  enough  the  real  objective  point  of  the  war, 
but  knew  very  well  that  the  declared  purpose  of 
the  war  at  that  time,  to  abolish  slavery,  would 
greatly  diminish  the  northern  ardor  and  weaken 
the  hands  of  the  government,  if  it  was  not  fatal  to 
the  cause  of  the  Union.  In  the  old  war  we  strug 
gled  to  maintain  the  birthright  of  Englishmen  ; 
contending  for  that,  we  came  directly  upon  the 
birthright  of  Americans.  In  this  we  took  up 
arms  to  enforce  the  constitution — whatever  it 
meant — as  to  slavery.  We  very  soon  proclaimed 
the  abolition  of  slavery,  and  amended  the  constitu 
tion  finally.  The  most  of  human  goods  are 
reached  thus  collaterally,  incidentally,  from  the 
astrologers,  alchemists,  to  Columbus. 

*  The  two  opponents  were  called  to  account,  and  boldly  declared 
that  slavery  having  thrust  by  the  protecting  constitution  should  be  ex 
tinguished.  One  of  them  was  emphatic.  He  declared  his  associates 
were  after  all  afraid  of  slavery.  They  went  about  silent  and  tremulous 
lest,  like  a  she  dragon,  it  would  come  and  devour  them.  There  was 
something  of  this  in  both  houses  then.  It  will  perhaps  please  the 
enemies  of  these  gentlemen  to  be  reminded  that  each  was  defeated  for 
the  next  congress. 


244  B.  F.    WADE. 

The  session  closed  August  6.  Congress  was 
called  to  provide  for  the  war.  Its  session  was  but 
a  giant  committee  of  ways  and  means.  It  called 
for  five  hundred  thousand  volunteers,  and  twenty- 
five  thousand  regulars.  It  appropriated  five 
hundred  million  dollars  for  the  army  alone.  The 
navy  was  augmented  by  immense  appropriations. 
The  repairs  of  old  and  the  building  of  new,  strong, 
powerful  ships,  the  improvement  of  arms,  inven 
tion  of  new  ordnance,  new  projectiles,  all  calling 
into  play  the  native  creative  genius  of  our  north 
ern  people.  Duties  on  imports  were  increased,  a 
loan  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  million  dollars 
authorized,  an  issue  and  re-issue  of  fifty  million 
of  treasury  notes  provided  for  ;  the  President's 
acts  —  his  past  indemnified,  his  future  assured 
against ;  and  so  that  congress  in  that  month 
launched  the  huge  war. 

Meantime  Bull  Run* — that  dead   sea  victory  to 

*  MR.  WADE  AT  BULL  RUN.  Never  was  a  battle  so  really  and  per 
sistently  misapprehended.  We  ran  away  and  so  were  defeated.  We 
were  not  beaten  on  the  field.  At  the  most  it  was  a  draw.  We  made 
the  assault,  and,  as  raw  troops  might,  went  off  from  the  field,  leaving, 
the  amazed  foe  there.  They  never  pursued  us  an  inch.  Governor 
Sprague  went  and  brought  off  his  guns  the  next  day.  A  party  brought 
off  the  body  of  Colonel  Cameron  the  second  day  after.  No  rebels  but 
dead  ones  were  met  with.  Senators  Wade,  Chandler,  Brown,  sergeant- 
at-arms  of  the  senate  ;  and  Major  Eaton  in  one  carriage,  Tom  Brown 
of  Cleveland,  Blake,  Morris  and  a  colleague  of  theirs,  of  the  house,  in 
another,  were  at  the  battle — some  of  them  on  the  field  and  saw  men 
fall.  On  their  return,  near  the  extemporized  hospital,  Ashby's  '  'Black 
Horse  "  swept  down  upon  them  and  caused  a  panic.  I  quote  from 
Cox's  '  Three  Decades  '  a  descriptive  passage  there  credited  to  another. 

"Mr.   relates   how   his   company  were  charged   upon  by  wild 

riders  of  sable  horses.     '  It  seemed,'  said  he,  in  a  deliberately  penned 


B.  F.    WADE.  245 

the  south  like  so  many  seeming  triumphs — so 
fruitful  in  far-reachirig  profits  to  the  north,  like  so 
many  seeming  defeats — had  been  fought,  won,  and 
for  the  time  lost. 

description,  '  as  if  the  very  devils  of  panic  and  cowardice  seized  every 
mortal  officer,  soldier,  teamster  and  citizen.  No  officer  tried  to  rally  a 
soldier  or  do  anything  but  spring  and  run  toward  Centerville.  There 
never  was  anything  like  it  for  causeless,  sheer,  absolute,  absurd 
cowardice,  or  rather  panic,  on  this  miserable  earth  before.  Off  they 
went,  one  and  all,  off,  down  the  highway,  across  fields  towards  the 
woods,  anywhere,  everywhere  to  escape.  The  further  they  ran  the 
more  frightened  they  grew,  and,  though  we  moved  as  fast  as  we  could, 
the  fugitives  passed  us  by  scores.  To  enable  themselves  better  to  run, 
they  threw  away  their  blankets,  knapsacks,  canteens,  and  finally 
muskets,  cartridge  boxes — everything.  We  called  to  them,  told  them 
there  was  no  danger  ;  implored  them  to  stand.  We  called  them 
cowards,  denounced  them  in  most  offensive  terms,  put  out  our  heavy 
revolvers,  threatened  to  kill  them,  in  vain.  A  cruel,  crazy,  hopeless 
panic  possessed  them  and  infected  everybody  in  front  or  rear.'  Mr. 
Cox  gives  much  more,  describing  the  awful  pack  at  Cub's  Run,  pp. 
158-9.  From  a  letter  of  one  of  Wade's  party,  written  the  morning 
of  his  return — not  deliberate,  as  its  rush  of  language  shows  :  'The 
two  carriages  of  the  party,  which  were  blocked  up  in  the  awful  gorge 
at  Cub's  Run,  had  become  separated.  They,  united  after  passing 
Centerville,  where  the  left  wing  of  our  army  were  still  in  position  with 
their  batteries,  not  engaged  during  the  day  and  not  seeing  an  enemy. 
They  passed  the  drift  wreck  and  ruins  of  abandoned  arms  and  material 
until  within  a  mile  or  so  of  Fairfax  Court  House,  where  in  a  good  posi 
tion,  under  Wade,  armed  with  his  famous  rifle,  as  were  the  rest  with 
heavy  revolvers,  they  formed  across  the  pike,  Wade,  his  hat  well  back, 
his  gun  in  position,  his  party  in  line,  facing  the  onflowing  torrent  of 
runaways,  who  were  ghastly  sick  with  panic— -it  is  a  disease — called 
out,  ''Boys  we'll  stop  this  damned  runaway,"  and  they  did,  for  the 
fourth  of  an  hour  not  a  man  passed  save  McDowell's  bearer  of  dis 
patches,  and  he  only  on  production  of  his  papers.  The  rushing, 
cowardly,  half-armed,  demented  fugitives  stopped,  gathered,  crowded, 
flowed  back,  hedged  in  on  either  side  by  thick,  growing  cedars  that  a 
rabbit  could  hardly  penetrate.  The  position  became  serious.  A  revol 
ver  was  discharged,  shattering  the  arm  of  Major  Eaton,  said  to  be  in 
the  hand  of  a  mounted  escaping  teamster,  whom  he  had  arrested.  At 


246  B.  F.    WADE. 

I  Early  at  the  ensuing — the  regular  session — Mr. 
(Jhandler  introduced  a  resolution  to  inquire  into 
the  causes  of  the  disaster  of  the  twenty-first  of  July 
supplemented  by  the  sad  affair  of  Ball's  Bluff,  and 
the  fall  of  Colonel  Baker.  The  idea  covered  by  it 
was  most  suggestive.  That  was  the  origin  of  the 
to  become  famous  "committee  on  the  conduct  of 
the  war,"  the  most  useful  of  the  purely  con 
gressional  agencies,  in  the  hands  of  its  own 
members,  of  the  war.  The  ready  house  caught  it 
up,  passed  a  joint  resolution,  fora  joint  committee 
of  seven — three  of  the  senate,  four  of  the  house.* 
Its  efficiency,  like  that  of  all  congressional  com 
mittees,  would  depend  entirely  upon  the  qualities 
and  conduct  of  its  head.  Nobody  but  Wade  was 
thought  of  for  chairman.  Chandler  and  Andrew 

•that  instant  the  heroic  old  senator  and  his  friends  were  relieved,  per 
haps  rescued,  by  Colonel  Crane  and  a  part  of  the  Second  New  York, 
hurrying  toward  the  scene  of  disaster,  and  the  party  proceeded.  At  Fair 
fax  the  gentleman  in  charge  of  the  second  carriage  delivered  to  an 
officer  seven  or  eight  rifled  muskets  and  other  property,  all  his  car 
riage  could  carry,  and  thus  lightened  moved  on,  reaching  the  capital 
just  before  dawn.  Wade's  exploit,  so  in  character — seven  citizens 
stopping  a  runaway  army — was  much  talked  of.  Nothing  better  illus 
trates  the  rawness  in  matters  of  war  than  the  presence  of  men  of  this 
position  at  this  battle.  They  were  there  by  the  special  permission  of 
General  Scott  with  imposing  passes.  Eely  of  New  York,  at  an  early 
hour,  was  captured  and  carried  to  Richmond.  Wade  would  hardly 
have  submitted  to  that  fortune.' 

*  At  the  opening  of  the  session,  Mr.  Conkling,  who  had  been  upon 
the  ground  (Ball's  Bluff),  and  thoroughly  investigated  the  whole  affair, 
made  on  the  floor  of  the  house,  a  masterly  expose  of  the  causes  which 
led  up  to  and  produced  that  shocking  disaster  and  attending  incidents. 
One  of  the  strongest  of  his  many  great  congressional  speeches — the 
first  that  congress  or  the  north  really  knew  of  the  facts.  This  led  to 
the  action  of  the  house. 


B.  F.    WADE.  247 

Johnson  were  with  him  and  Julian,  Covode,  Gooch, 
and  Odell  from  the  house.*  The  committee  by 
Mr.  Wade,  omitting  Mr.  Johnson's  name,  madetheir 
first  report  soon  after  the  close  of  the  Thirty-seventh 
congress,  in  April  1863,  which  made  three  heavy 
volumes  of  over  two  thousand  printed  pages. 
Their  second,  May  22,  1865,  a  trifle  more  in  bulk 
— six  volumes  in  all,  of  over  four  thousand  pages. 
We  may  only  mention  some  of  the  leading  subjects 
committed  to  its  care:  "Bull  Run,"  "Ball's  Bluff;" 
"The  Missouri  Campaign,"  and  ' '  Fremont, "  "  The 
"  Hatteras  Expedition,"  "Port  Royal,"  "Burnside's 
Beaufort  Exploits,"  "  Fort  Donelson,"  "The  Cap 
ture  of  New  Orleans,"  ' '  Invasion  'of  New  Mexico, " 
"Expedition  to  Accomac, "  "The  Battle  of  Win 
chester,"  "The  Battle  of  the  Monitor  and  the 
Merrimac, "  ' '  The  Army  of  the  Potomac, "  "  Battle 
of  Petersburg,"  Bank's  famous  "Red  River  Cotton 
Raid,"  Butler's  equally  famous  "Raid  on  Fort 
Fisher,"  which  Terry  afterward  carried  by  assault, 
"Treatment  of  Prisoners,"  "The  Sherman-John 
son  Capitulation" — a  great  many  more  events  and 
incidents  of  the  war  important  then,  forgotten 
long  since.  A  large  edition,  many  thousands,  were 
printed,  of  these  now  scarce  volumes,  where  is  re 
corded  so  much  evidence  of  generals  and  others,  of 
value  to  the  real  historian,  who  will  know  the  use  of 
original  evidence,  when  he  comes — not  referred  to 
by  the  generals  who  are  now  so  busy  patching  their 

*  I  think  Johnson  never  acted  on  the  committee.     It  was  no  place 
for  him.     Wade  and  Chandler  were  the  two  great  men  of  it. 

I 


248  B.  F.    WADE. 

fames.  It  is  said  that  Wade  seldom  missed  a  session 
of  the  committee.  The  most  conscientious  of  known 
men,  never  ill — he  never  neglected  a  duty,  failed 
of  an  engagement,  was  never  waited  for,  and  never 
failed  to  meet  his  foe,  one  or  many.*  \ 
[^Largely  we  are  indebted  to  Mr.  Wade  for  the 
advancement  of  Mr.  Stanton  to  the  war  office. 
He  strongly  urged  him  upon  Mr.  Lincoln,  who 
soon  came  to  estimate  Mr.  Wade  at  his  true  value. 
Stanton  had  been  the  bitterest  of  Democrats. 
The  Republicans  then  knew  nothing  certainly  of 
his  course  in  Buchanan's  cabinet.  His  appoint 
ment  surprised  the  senate.  Wade  knew  and 
indorsed  him  there.  That  was  sufficient,  f  ) 

The  army,  the  American  world,  thrilled  under 
Stanton's  first  touch.  At  his  word  everybody 
moved,  but  McClellan.  I  may  but  mention  some 
of  the  leading  things  accomplished  by  that  great 
congress  : 

The  abolition  of  slavery  in  the  District  of  Co 
lumbia,  in  April  '62.  The  confiscation  of  rebel 

*So  the  kindest  of  men,  the  most  obscure  could  command  his  instant 
attention.  If  at  leisure— listening  to  Mrs.  Wade's  fine  reading — he 
arose  at  once,  with  his  cane,  would  stride  up  the  avenue  to  a  de 
partment  where  all  the  doors  stood  open  to  him,  and  at  once  advance, 
if  it  was  possible,  the  interests  of  his  temporary  protege.  No  man's 
voice  was  more  potent.  I  recall  his  persistent  effort  to  secure  the  ap 
pointment  of  a  grand  nephew  of  Washington  Irving  to  the  naval  acad 
emy.  When  he  succeeded  he  was  shocked  when  told  that  the  gifted 
youth  lacked  a  half  inch  of  the  required  height.  The  most  laborious 
tasks  of  a  kind-hearted  senator  or  representative  were  in  obedience  to 
the  endless  calls  for  every  variety  of  thing,  from  all  possible  people 
— mainly  those  having  no  claims. 

f  Senator  Pearce  of  Maryland,  was  my  authority  for  this  statement. 


B.  F.   WADE.  249 

property — slaves,  maugre  the  Crittenden  platform 
not  nine  months  old,  and  on  which  McClellan  waged 
war,  keeping  in  its  limits.  The  abandoned  and 
captured  property  law,  a  title  that  tells  nothing  to 
a  stranger.  It  was  the  act  under  which  all  the 
cotton  was  seized  and  sold.  The  great  blockade 
and  also  the  rebel  intercourse  law,  under  which  we 
sought  to  secure  cotton  in  the  rebel  lines  to  meet 
the  frantic  foreign  clamor  for  cotton,  and  thus  keep 
them  from  intervening.  The  important  law, 
authorizing  the  seizure  of  the  railroads  and  tele 
graphs  for  the  public  service.  Early  in  July  the 
great  Pacific  railroad  scheme  was  perfected  bylaw. 
Though  the  walls  of  the  capitol  where  congress 
deliberated,  vibrated  in  the  roar  of  hostile  cannon 
that  would  destroy  it,  that  congress  set  at  once 
about  erecting  its  great  dome.  The  needs  of  the 
war,  in  the  fruitful  hands  of  that  creative  congress, 
the  great  scheme  of  the  national  currency,  the  in 
geniously  wrought  out  internal  revenue  and  direct 
taxation  laws,  that  floated  the  900,000,000  of 
paper  we  were  obliged  to  issue.  It  was  not  the 
legal  tender  clause  that  did  this.  That  was  a  pure 
compulsion,  which  at  a  certain  point  would  be  pow 
erless.  It  was  the  national  credit  based  on  its  im 
mense  actual  revenues,  which  persuaded,  that  kept 
us  swimming  though  water-logged  and  constantly 
sinking.  Gold  ceased  to  be  money, 'it  became  a 
commodity,  the  price  of  which  marked  accurately 
how  far  below  the  surface  our  paper  was.  There 


250  B.  F.    WADE. 

were  the  conscription   laws — all    the    acts  of  that 
congress  cannot  be  named. 

I  recall  for  a  moment  the  real  position  of  this 
congress,  of  which  none  of  the  busy,  covet 
ous  military  historians  (?)  has  yet  said  a  word. 
Lincoln,  by  common  consent,  stands  next  Wash 
ington,  then  Grant,  Sherman,  Sheridan  (saying 
nothing  of  the  cabinet),  in  the  common  estimate. 
What  would  Lincoln  have  accomplished  had  there 
not  been  a  brave,  firm,  wise,  far-seeing  congress  to 
advise,  create,  compel,  reward,  punish,  pay  prem 
iums,  bounties,  prizes.  Where  would  have  been 
the  glittering  hosts,  with  the  gold-spangled,  glory- 
bedazzling  generals  ?  In  the  true  sense,  that  con 
gress  made  and  sustained  them  all — the  President 
but  executed  their  will — hence  all  their  fame  and 
glory.  Nothing  of  this  was  or  is  yet  seen.  In 
the  eyes  of  the  nation  in  the  near  foreground  there 
were  but  two  figures  looming  through  the  dense 
cloud  of  war  —  the  ever  present  smoke  of 
ceaseless  battle.  Lincoln  colossal,  Stanton  appear 
ing  and  disappearing,  sustaining,  supporting, 
inflexible,  impersonation  of  one  of  the  great 
inexorable  forces  of  nature.  People  supposed 
Chase  was  awfully  busy  up  there  in  his  huge 
stone  factory,  creating  money — paper  mostly ; 
poor  stuff  it  was  showing,  notwithstanding  legal 
tender — treasury  notes  and  bonds.  They  caught 
glimpses  of  Seward,  diminished  by  the  immense 
distance  —  little  man  !  standing  on  the  sands 
of  the  sea,  frantically  admonishing,  waving 


B.  F.    WADE.  251 

off  the  eager  crowd,  English  and  French,  who 
thronged  the  other  shore,  hardly  restrained  from 
jumping  into  their  boats  and  pulling  over  to  break 
the  blockade  and  help  the  rebs.  ' '  Congress  !  Con 
gress  !  Well,  ain't  old  Thad  Stevens  and  old  Ben 
Wade  there  ?  They'll  keep  'em  at  work  ! "  was 
the  popular  cry.  Ah,  yes,  they  kept  themselves 
at  work,  work  all  the  time.  W'e  may  see  some  of 
the  other  things  done,  some  of  the  difficulties  in 
the  way. 

Upon  the  resumption  of  its  labors  at  the  Decem 
ber  session  of  1862,  the  senate,  with  becoming 
promptitude,  expelled  John  C.  Breckenridge,  of 
the  old  firm  of  "  Buck  and  Breck,"  so  sharply 
handled  by  Baker  at  the  extra  session.  He  was 
not  present,  and  his  associate  Powell  did  what  he 
might  to  divert  or  soften  the  blow.  The  vote  was 
unanimous.  On  the  sixteenth  the  first  bolt  struck 
Jesse  D.  Bright,  the  greatest  Indianian  before  the 
late  Mr.  Hendricks.  .  He  wrote  a  letter  early  in 
March,  addressed  to  "  His  Excellency,  the  President 
of  the  Confederate  States,'.'  whose  name  it  was 
"  Jefferson  Davis,"  whilom  a  senator  of  the  United 
States,  earnestly  recommending  another  rebel, 
who  had  an  improved  arm  to  sell,  to  his  Confederate 
excellency's  kind  consideration.  His  defense  was 
adroit.  He  hated  to  go.  The  Democrats  stood 
by  him.  The  new  senators — Harris  of  New 
York  and  Cowan  of  Pennsylvania,  Republicans 
both — spoke  and  voted  for  him.  The  votes 
stood  thirty-two  adverse  and  fourteen  for 


252  JB.  F.    WADE. 

him,  and  he  slept  with  his  political  fathers. 
This  was  the  work  of  young  Senator  Wil 
kinson  from  younger  Minnesota.  December 
18  Sumner  moved  the  expulsion  of  Trusten  Polk 
of  Missouri  ;  called  him  a  traitor  by  name. 
Trusten  had  also  written  a  letter — to  an  editor. 
Meantime  his  colleague,  Johnston,  was  gotten  ready 
and  paired  with  him,  two  and  two,  like  the  unclean 
in  Noah's  time.  The  Democrats  joined  in  their 
cordial  send  off.  Mr.  Wade,  certain  of  results — 
he  never  spoke  when  he  was — remained  in  grim 
silence  through  these  proceedings,  the  tone  of 
voice  in  which  he  expressed  his  hearty  approval 
betraying  the  cordiality  of  his  concurrence.  The 
house  took  the  lead  in  this  "Pride's  Purge."  On 
the  first  day  Frank  Blair  moved  the  expulsion 
of  his  colleague,  Reid.  He  was  sent  out  on 
the  common  counts,  as  a  lawyer  would  say, 
as  was  the  ever  ponderously  truculent  Burnett 
of  Kentucky.  The  house  •  did  not  expend  the 
"ayes  and  noes"  on  them.  It  "agreed"  on 
their  cases  by  good-natured  acclamation,  which 
one  acquainted  with  the  already  departed  could 
appreciate.  Brave  white-haired,  old  Wickliffe  made 
Burnett  the  occasion  of  some  cheering  words 
loudly  applauded  by  the  Republicans.  He  took 
the  arming  of  slaves  greatly  to  heart  later. 

Meantime  the  literal  Wilkes  had  intercepted  and 
returned  Mason  and  Slidell.  America  never  had 
two  sons  she  could  better  spare.  But  here  they 
were,  and  the  house  so  noisily  applauded  the  act 


B.   F.    WADE.  253 

that  it  was  heard  across  the  Atlantic  and  added 
much  to  the  complicated  and  compromising  posi 
tion  the  exploit  placed  us  in.  Mr.  Seward  saved 
us.  His  position  was  the  most  difficult  and  the 
least  appreciated  of  any  of  the  three  great  secre 
taries.  He  gracefully  apologized  to  her  majesty, 
and  we  rewarded  the  old  South  sea  explorer  in 
true  British  fashion  by  making  him  an  admiral.* 
There  was  the  dismembering  of  Virginia — would 
we  do  it  again,  under  the  same  conditions  and  in 
our  then  temper  ?  Yes.  She  was  betrayed  by 
her  sons  on  all  sides.  Her  great  leaders  abandoned 
her  and  themselves.  Her  small  men  found  in  this 
their  opportunity.  Not  a  man  of  them  made  any 
reputation.  Their  needs  required  her  division. 
We  did  it  for  them.'  Her  very  bondmen  reviled 
her.  Her  day  is  not  yet.  She  promised  to  sub 
mit  her  ordinance  of  treason  to  a  fair  vote  of  her 
people.  Old  bawd  that  she  had  become — she 
cared  for  no  sanction.  Shamelessly  she  rushed  to 
her  harlot's  couch  to  find  a  harlot's  grave.  The 
chariots  of  war  cut  her  soil  to  their  hubs.  She 
was  a  wide,  red  mire.  In  her  return  to  life  she 
brings  from  her  dead  past  its  dead  burdens  to 
dam  the  way  of  new  progress,  free  to  her  southern 
sisters.  It  may  be  that  her  nearness — lying  so  clearly 
in  our  field  of  vision,  her  sufferings  are  more  obvious 
— they  seem  almost  more  than  her  deserving.  The 

*  After  the  war  1  came  to  know  him  well,  of  large  frame,  tall,  grim, 
forbidding  of  aspect,  with  an  aptitude  for  trouble  in  business  and 
property  matters. 


254  B.  F.    WADE. 

law  of  retribution  executes  itself  alike  on  peoples 
as  individuals.  There  is  no  escape  for  either. 

Two  things  of  that  congress  thus  far  finding 
small  mention,  of  great  temporary  and  some  last 
ing  influence,  should  be  here  noticed. 

Early  in  the  winter  of  1861-2  it  became  appar 
ent  to  the  sagacious  Vallandigham,  one  of  the  able, 
clear-headed  men  of  his  day,  ardent,  ambitious,  of 
manly,  honorable  impulses,  largely  influenced  by 
his  unfortunate  bias  to  the  south,  whence  came  in 
spiration  and  family  origin,  that  to  support  the 
war,  the  administration,  was  to  lose — merge  the 
Democracy  with  the  Republicans  and  thus  efface 
the  party.  True,  as  he  must  have  seen,  to  oppose 
the  war  the  administration  was  to  make  the  Dem 
ocracy  the  allies  of  the  revolted  south.  He  proba 
bly  did  not  regret  that,  in  view  of  the  end  of  the 
war  at  some  time.  Hence  the  party  in  the  house 
was  reorganized  under  his  lead,  and  a  written  basis 
signed  by  some  thirty  of  that  body.  Unquestion 
ably  to  that  action  was  due  many  added  months 
to  the  period  of  the  war.* 

*  Stimulated  by  his  new  determination,  his  givings  out  were  of  such 
pronounced  character  that  he  was  arrested  by  Burnside's  order,  sent 
through  the  lines,  went  to  Bermuda,  thence  to  Canada,  and  re-appeared 
at  the  Democratic  convention  of  1864,  at  Chicago,  having  in  the  mean 
time  been  a  second  time  martyred  as  the  Democratic  candidate  for 
governor  of  his  state.  When  his  return  was  reported  to  the  President, 
it  reminded  him  only  of  a  little  story  of  Sangammon  county.  The  mes_ 
senger  hurried  eagerly  to  the  despotic  Stanton,  who  peremptorily 
denied  Vallandigham's  presence  in  the  United  States,  and  closed  the 
superserviceable  man's  mouth  by  assuring  him  that  no  human  testi 
mony  ever  would  convince  him  of  Vallandigham's  return  while  the  war 
lasted. 


B.  F.    WADE.  255 

Very  early  there  came  to  be  a  difference  in  the 
estimate  of  the  President,  his  policy,  capacity  and 
intentions,  between  the  distant  northern  public  and 
the  leading  men  of  the  two  houses.  He  soon  be 
came  the  theme  of  criticism,  reflection,  reproach 
and  condemnation  on  their  part.  The  New  York 
Tribune  was  largely  the  organ  of  these  congres 
sional  critics,  and,  as  was  known,  Mr.  Greeley, 
with  a  lantern,  was  diligently  searching  all  the 
summer,  autumn  and  winter  of  1863  for  a  man  to 
succeed  him.  To  such  extent  did  the  condemna 
tion  reach,  that,  at  the  end  of  the  thirty-seventh 
congress,  there  were  in  the  house  but  two  men, 
capable  of  being  heard,  who  openly  and  every 
where  defended  him — Mr.  Arnold  of  Illinois  and 
one  of  the  Ohio  delegation.  Corroborative  of 
this,  I  quote  from  a  speech  of  one  of  these  on  the 
"  Bill  to  Indemnify  the  President, "  in  the  house,  on 
the  twenty-eight  of  February,  He  dealt  first  very 
directly  with  the  resounding  clamor,  denunciation 
and  vituperation  of  the  President  by  the  Demo 
crats,  and  thus  passed  to  and  addressed  himself  to 
the  Republicans  : 

These  outspoken  comments  here  and  elsewhere  have  at  least  the 
merit  of  boldness  ;  but  what  shall  be  said  of  that  muttering,  unmanly, 
yet  swelling  undercurrent  of  complaining  criticism  that  reflects  upon 
the  President,  his  motives  and  capacity,  so  freely  and  feebly  in 
dulged  in  by  men  having  the  public  confidence  ?— whisperings  and 
complainings  and  doublings  and  misgivings  and  exclamations  and 
predictions.  I  have  heard  men  complain  that  George  Washington  had 
died,  as  if  untimely,  and  feebly  sigh  for  a  return  of  Andrew  Jackson  to 
life.  What  can  be  done  with  such  puling  drivelers? — men  who  have  a 
morbid  passion  to  exaggerate  our  misfortunes,  and  aggregate  and  riot 
in  our  calamities  ;  and  who  are  never  so  happy  as  when  they  can  gloat 


256  B.  F.   WADE. 

over  the  sum  of  our  disasters,  which  they  charge  over  to  the  personal 
account  of  the  President.  I  am  sick  of  this  everlasting  cowardice  and 
pallor  under  reverses.  Defeats  must  come,  disasters  must  come,  and 
still  greater  ones  perhaps,  and  the  end  is  not  yet.  These  men  would 
never  have  worked  through  the  first  Revolution  ;  but  that,  as  this  will 
be,  was  achieved  in  spite  of  them. 

Sir,  if  we  fail  it  will  be  wholly  because  we  are  unworthy  to  succeed  ; 
because  we  will  not  with  our  whole  heart  and  energy,  might,  mind  and 
strength,  give  ourselves  up  entirely  to  this  war  as  do  the  rebels  ;  study 
its  portents  and  obey  its  demands  alone.  The  task  it  imposes  is  for 
our  human  kind.  Its  work  is  the  accumulated  work  of  the  dead  cen 
turies  thrust  upon  our  hands,  and  its  hope  is  the  hope  of  all  the  ages  to 
be  born.  If  we  doubt,  assail  and  cast  down  those  who  alone  must  lead 
us,  we  might  as  well  now  slough  into  any  infamy  that  men  will  call 
peace,  or  skulk  behind  the  mediating  scepter  of  no  matter  what  despot, 
and  hide  forever  our  dishonored  heads  amid  the  ruins  of  our  nationality 
If  any  man  here  distrusts  the  President,  let  him  speak  forth  here,  like 
these  bad  leaders,  openly,  and  no  longer  offend  the  streets  and  nauseate 
places  of  common  resort  with  their  unworthy  clamor.  He  may  not 
have  in  excess  that  ecstatic  fire  that  makes  poets  and  prophets  and  mad 
men  ;  he  may  not  possess  much  of  what  we  call  heroic  blood,  that  drives 
men  to  stake  priceless  destinies  on  desperate  ventures  and  lose  them  ; 
he  may  not  in  an  eminent  degree  possess  that  indefinable  something 
that  school-boys  call  genius,  that  enables  its  possessor,  through  new 
and  unheard  of  combinations,  to  grasp  at  wonderful  results,  and  that 
usually  end  in  ruin  ;  or,  if  he  possesses  any  or  all  of  these  qualities, 
they  are  abashed  and  subdued  in  the  presence  of  a  danger  that  dwarfs 
giants  and  teaches  prudence  to  temerity.  He  is  an  unimpassioned, 
cool,  shrewd,  sagacious,  far-seeing  man,  with  a  capacity  to  form  his 
own  judgments  and  a  will  to  execute  them  ;  and  he  possesses  an  in 
tegrity  pure  and  simple  as  the  white  rays  of  light  that  play  about 
the  Throne.  It  is  this  that  has  so  tied  the  hearts  and  love  of  the  people 
to  him,  that  will  not  unloose  in  the  breath  of  all  the  demagogues  in  the 
land.  It  is  idle  to  compare  him  with  Washington  or  Jackson.  Like  all  ex 
traordinary  men,  he  is  an  original,  and  must  stand  in  his  own  niche. 
He  has  assiduously  studied  the  teachings  of  this  war  ;  has  learned  its 
great  lesson,  and  in  full  time  he  uttered  its  great  word.  He  commits 
errors.  Who  would  have  committed  fewer?  Think  of  the  fierce  and 
hungry  demands  that  incessantly  devour  him  up.  Remember  the  re 
peated  instances  in  our  own  times  when  the  ablest  of  our  statesmen  in 
that  chair,  with  cabinets  of  their  choice,  and  sustained  by  majorities  in 
congress,  in  times  of  profound  peace,  have  gone  down,  and  their  ad- 


B.  F.   WADE.  257 

ministrations  have  perished  under  the  bare  weight  of  the  government. 
And  then  contemplate,  if  you  can,  in  addition  to  the  burdens  that 
have  crushed  so  many  strong  men,  the  fearful  responsibilities  imposed 
upon  this  man.  Is  it  not  a  marvel,  a  most  living  wonder,  that  he  sus 
tains  them  so  well  ? 

But  these  gentlemen  now  denounce  the  President's  policy  of  the  war. 
Sir,  I  remember  that  others,  too,  used  to  complain  the  same  way,  and 
just  as  if  the  President  was  responsible  for  it,  and  could  furnish  a  policy 
for  the  war.  The  war  is  greater  than  the  President ;  greater  than 
the  two  houses  of  congress  ;  greater  than  the  people,  with  the  new 
Democracy  thrown  in  ;  greater  than  all  together,  and  controls  them  all 
and  dictates  its  own  policy  ;  and  woe  to  the  men  or  party  that  will  not 
heed  its  dictation.* 

To  Mr.  Wade's  credit — where  he  could  not  ap 
prove  and  praise  the  President  he  remained  silent 
— never  praised  any  one  much.  Due  allowance 
has  never  been  made  for  Mr.  Lincoln's  position. 
Seeing  all  the  most  advanced  saw,  he  also  saw 
what  they  would  not — the  slow,  the  tardy,  the 
reluctant.  For  these  he  pnust  wait.  It  required 
all.  To  rush  forward  with  the  van,  like  an  old 
prophet,  to  risk  all  mayhap  was  to  lose  all. 
In  this  and  in  his  grand  docility  to  be  taught  by 
each  day  of  its  needs,  at  the  feet  of  the  war  itself, 
consists  the  real  greatness  of  the  man.  Constantly 
he  grew  with  the  people,  till  he  filled  their  entire 
vision. 

As  will  be  remembered,  Mr.  Wade  did  once  ap 
pear  openly  to  criticise  the  President — not  to 
assail  him,  but  to  inform  the  people,  warn  the 

*  No  one  on  the  floor  or  elsewhere  replied  to  or  denied  these  state 
ments  of  the  extent  and  character  of  these  Republican  criticisms  of  the 
President.  The  speech  had  a  wide  circulation  and  became  a  campaign 
document  through  the  north. 


258  B.  F.  WADE. 

public.  Our  success  in  the  southwest,  late  in 
1863,  led  Mr.  Lincoln  to  look  for  a  near  end  of  the 
war,  and  consider  the  course  to  be  pursued  with 
the  subdued  states.  He  outlined  a  scheme  which 
alarmed  the  sagacious  men  about  him.  His  mag 
nanimity,  like  many  of  his  great  qualities,  extended 
to  the  border  of  weakness  ;  as  when,  on  the  fall 
of  Richmond,  he  directed  General  Hentzleman  to 
re-convene  the  rebel  legislature  to  resume  its 
forfeited  functions.  The  time  seemed  pressing, 
the  danger  imminent,  in  the  absence  of  most  of  his 
associates.  The  Thirty-eighth  congress  adjourned, 
its  members  had  gone  home.  \  Mr.  Wade,  in 
concert  with  Henry  Winter  Davis,  respectively  the 
chairmen  of  the  committees  of  the  senate  and  house, 
on  Rebel -States,  and  on  Territories,  to  whom  the 
matter  would  belong,  issued  the  famous  Wade- 
Davis  manifesto,  reflecting  on  the  proposed  policy, 
which  produced  a  most  prodigious  sensation  and 
excitement  north.  At  one  with  them,  the  New 
York  Tribune,  dared  not  publish  it,  and  it  went 
out  as  a  circular.  It  disposed  of  the  intended 
policy.  It  brought  Mr.  Wade  under  a  dense 
eclipse — the  first  and  only  one  of  his  life.  Fortu 
nately,  he  had  received  his  third  election,  and  at 
the  hands  of  a  nominal  Democratic  legislature,  or 
his  career  in  the  senate  would  have  closed  under  it.* 

*  The  exact  conditions  may  be  outlined  for  those  who  may  not  re 
member.  We  had  recovered  the  Mississippi,  and  with  it  always  bot 
tomless  Louisiana.  Mr.  Lincoln  then  tried  an  experiment  of  recon 
struction — his  "ten  percent." — derisively  called — as  it  took  but  ten 
per  cent,  of  the  people  to  reconstruct.  Congress  promptly — Flanders 


B.  F.    WADE.  259 

A  word  further  is  due  the  Thirty-seventh  cong 
ress,  of  which  Mr.  Wade  was  such  a  conspicuous 
figure,  and  in  which  his  influence  was  so  large,  his 
labors  so  great  and  useful.  It  seems  to  have  been, 
possibly,  the  first  whose  vision  and  grasp  embraced 
the  continent,  as  well  as  the  interests  of  the  hum 
blest  citizen.  It  tied  the  wide  asunder  shores  of 
the  Pacific  as  with  the  sweep  of  a  mighty  lasso  to 
the  Atlantic — the  railroad  and  telegraph.  It  en 
acted  the  Homestead  law.  Perhaps  the  necessity 
which  compelled  it  to  deal  with  vast  sums — huge 
armies,  marching,  fighting  over  a  wide  continent, 
dealing  in  the  huge — gave  it  a  capacity  for  broad 
views,  while  the  very  nature  of  the  great  contest, 
quickening  and  inspiring  the  higher  sentiments, 
gave  elevation  that  inspired  high  aims..  It  is 

and  Hahn  were  in  the  house — rejectee!  his  senator,  and  later  it  passed  its 
first  act  for  military  governors,  and  adjourned  early  in  July.  The  Pres 
ident  did.not  receive  it  ten  days  before  that  event,  and  quietly  permitted 
it  to  die.  He  thereupon  issued  his  famous  proclamation,  setting  forth 
the  Louisiana  plan.  Its  tone  was  sarcastic  toward  congress,  which 
shared  fully  the  estimate  and  spirit  of  the .  Thirty-seventh  congress. 
Mr.  Wade  and  Mr.  Davis  rejoined  in  a  caustic  protest — they  called  it. 
Mr.  Davis  was  one  of  the  ablest  and  most  brilliant  men  of  his  time. 
Mr.  Lincoln  long  balanced  Davis  and  Blair  for  his  cabinet — preferred 
Blair.  Could  Davis  forget  it  !  Perhaps  so.  I  don't  know.  He  wrote 
the  protest — a  most  admirable  performance,  saving  its  tone,  reviewing 
the  whole  ground.  And  so  the  world  for  the  first  time  knew  how 
widely  asunder  the  President  and  congress  were.  It  sided  with  the 
President,  condemned  even  Wade,  would  cut  off  young  Garfield  on 
suspicion.  Wade  and  Davis  were  greatly  light,  the  President  fatally 
wrong,  had  his  way  prevailed.  When  congress  re-convened  it  stood 
by  its  champions  and  no  harm  came.  Mr.  Lincoln  serenely  acquiesced. 
Not  so  much  a  ruler.  The  greatest  manager  of  men  the  American 
world  ever  saw. 


26o  B.  F.    WADE. 

not  the  least  indication  of  its  rare  aptitude,  that 
while  it  thus  dealt  with  the  highest,  broadest  des 
tinies  of  races,  as  well  as  of  the.  nation,  it  neglected 
no  minor  domestic  interest,  lost  sight  of  no  need 
or  requirement  of  our  foreign  relations.  The  huge 
volume  of  its  enactments,  the  most  of  which  were 
of  limited  duration,  nevertheless  contributed  much 
to  the  great  permanent  revision  of  1873.  The 
great  dome,  the  free  capital,  its  schools  for  the 
races,  the  national  banks,  the  bureau  of  agriculture, 
are  his  work — a  small  part  of  it.  It  launched  the 
war,  made  success  certain — if  it  did  criticise  the 
President. 

Its  laws  are  found  in  Volume  XII  Statutes  at 
Large,  1440  pages.  Bulk  may  show  diligence. 
Ability  only  by  excellence  and  its  degree.  Under 
the  conditions  in  which  the  labors  of  this  congress 
were  performed,  they  do  not  fall  below  that  of  any 
legislative  body  of  modern  history,  however  esti 
mated.  Its  execution  required  quick,  unerring  ap 
prehension,  courage,  firmness,  wisdom,  will,  faith. 
The  greatest  of  all  was  faith. 

The  philosophy  of  a  people's  history  is  most 
certainly  studied  in  its  laws,  whether  enacted  by 
itself  or  imposed  by  a  despot.  The  twelfth  and 
thirteenth  volumes  of  the  great  series  of  congres 
sional  statutes  contain  the  entire  legislation  of  the 
war.  The  Thirty-eighth  but  took  up  and  com 
pleted  the  work  of  its  predecessor.  Amending, 
perfecting — not  originating.  Its  volume  is  but 
half  the  size  of  that  of  the  Thirty-seventh. 


B.  F.    WADE.  261 

Incased  in  these  two  lie  the  skeleton  of  the  War 
of  the  Rebellion,  to  be  restored  and  clothed  with 
life  by  whoever  would  best  study  that.  The  mus 
cles,  sinews,  the  intense  life,  the  resistless  energy, 
that  endowed,  animated,  armed  it,  which  went  forth 
to  work  the  law-makers  will,  departed  when  that 
will  took  the  from  of  fact  accomplished. 

The  thing — the  new  financial  system — barely 
named  is  destined  to  permanency.  The  national 
banks — possibly  a  direct  national  currency  in  some 
form,  the  great  financial  convulsion  inevitable  of 
the  war,  will  remain — an  immense  step  forward. 
No  good  is  so  perfect  that  evils  may  not  owe  birth 
to  it.  The  greenback  craze  was  a  larve  hatched  of 
the  national  currency,  as  its  near  kin  the  silver 
delusion.  The  enormous,  growing  production  of 
silver  is  fast  reducing  it  to  a  base  metal.  Experit 
ment  will  doubtless  go  on  till  the  idea  is  reached- 
and  practically  accepted,  that  money  was  a  dis 
covery,  and  not  an  invention  of  trade.  Men  can 
not  make  more  than  a  temporary  representative  of 
it— a  substitute  is  impossible.  Money — real  money 
— is  the  product  of  the  hand  that  imparted  all  in 
trinsic  values  to  its  products.  Coining  gold  only 
declares  what  for  the  time  that  is.  It  cannot  be 
augmented. 

The  Thirty-seventh,  the  promulgator  of  that 
joint  resolution  of  July,  '61,  not  only  confiscated 
slaves,  it  armed  them  against  their  masters.* 

*  This  thing  was  first  brought  broadly  before  the  house  in  a  speech  the 
twenty-seventh  of  January,  1862,  the  first  public  or  private  utterance 


262  B.  F.   WADE. 

The  Thirty-eighth  congress  was  elected  in  '62 1 
in  due  time  succeeding  ;  commenced  the  thirteenth 
volume  in  April,  1864.  Frank  Blair  repeated  his 
assault  of  Mr.  Chase,  which  barely  escaped  driving 
him  from  the  cabinet,  and  might  have  led  to  the 
gravest  disasters,  of  which,  thus  far,  so  little  is 
known. 

There,  in  the  house,  re-appeared  battle-scarred 
and  crippled  Schenck,f  with  young  Garfield,  fresh 
from  the  battlefield.  They  to  become  the  head 
and  nearly  the  whole  committee  of  military  affairs. 
What  a  task  was  theirs;  volunteering  had  ceased. 
The  conscription  law,  with  its  twelve  openings,  let 
the  whole  draft  through.  Of  three  hundred  thou- 

on  the  subject.  The  house  was  startled.  Governor  Wickliffe  would 
not  believe  he  understood  the  speaker.  The  claim  that  while  men  of 
African  blood  were  by  the  laws  of  Kentucky  slaves,  they  were  at  the 
same  time  subjects  of  the  United  States,  had  been  turned  over  to  it, 
not  as  slaves  but  as  persons,  and  owed  it  allegiance  as  such,  and  the 
Uniten  Slates  could  therefore  take  their  service  spite  of  the  master 
and  the  master'  sslave  law,  efface  for  this  purpose,  if  necessary, 
all  semblance  of  servitude,  seemed  beyond  denial.  No  one  attempted 
it.  After  the  subsidence  of  the  first  impression,  many  Repub 
lican  along  the  borders  dared  not  circulate  any  of  the  great 
numbers  they  subscribed  for.  Judge  Thomas  of  Massachusetts 
said  it  would  abolish  slavery  even  in  peace.  Slavery  was  essentially 
abolished  when  the  utterance  was  made. 

f  Robert  C.  Schenck  was  among  the  most  fortunate  in  rendering  val 
uable  service,  the  most  unfortunate  in  fame  and  reward  of  the  distin 
guished  men  of  that  great  period.  Clear,  rapid,  very  able,  of  the  heroic 
cast  of  men,  he  became  a  target  for  more  unjust  newspaper  clamor, 
and  an  instance  of  the  suddenness  with  which  great  men  are  forgotten 
in  our  time.  A  volume  from  him  would  tell  us  more  of  the  hidden 
springs  of  power  and  success,  than  all  the  conflicting  accounts  of  all 
the  generals  from  Grant  to  Beauregard.  He  and  the  other  great  civil 
ians  still  with  us  should  be  at  work. 


B.  F.    WADE.  263 

sand  drawn,  but  fifty  thousand  were  held.  A  new 
bill  was  prepared  and  the  new  house  of  the  Thirty- 
eighth  rejected  it.  Then  was  held  that  consulta 
tion  in  the  committee  room — the  great  President 
meeting  the  generals  and  two  or  three  others,  his 
sad  eyes  full,  the  solemn,  inner  light,  by  which  he 
seemed  to  see  things  hidden  from  mortals,  armed, 
inspired.  The  head  and  his  great  young  second 
produced  their  new  bill — they  passed  it.  A  call 
went  out  for  three  hundred  thousand.  The  re 
sponse  from  the  re-aroused  north — the  most 
pathetic  and  arousing  lyric  of  the  land— 

We  are  coming  Father  Abraham,  three  hundred  thousand  more 
Shouting  the  battle  cry  of  Freedom.* 

Where  would  Grant  and  Appomattox  have  been, 
or  Lincoln,  without  Schenck  and  Garfield  ? 

In  the  dark  days  of  December,  '63,  in  the  house, 
Garfield  met  James  Gillespie  Elaine — of  the  same 
age.  Their  entrance  upon  the  public  stage  was  of 
as  much  significance  to  the  republic  as  to  them 
selves.  Men  with  much  of  great  and  brilliant  in 
common,  they  yet  presented  great  contrasts.  They 
became  fast  friends,  from  which  flowed  influences 
and  consequences  largely  shaping  the  affairs  of 
the  republic ;  perhaps  never  to  be  understood  out 
of  a  small  circle.  Conkling  was  still  in  the  house. 
How  mysteriously  the  fortunes  of  these  gifted 

*  Frank  Moore,  editor  of  the  Rebellion  Record,  has  just  produced 
the  southern  popular  war  poems  and  songs. — Appleton  &  Company. 
Some  careful  hand  should  perform  this  needed  and  interesting  work  for 
the  soldier  lyrics  of  the  north. 


264  B.  F.    WADE. 

young    men    were    made    to    mingle    and    inter 
depend. 

The  opening  of  '64  saw  Grant  on  his  weltering 
way  through  the  Wilderness.  It  saw  the  nomina 
tions  of  Mr.  Lincoln  and  General  McClellan — 
George  B.,  child  of  the  war,  an  indubitable  failure, 
pitted  against  the  great  President,  on  the  strength  of 
his  failures  mainly — and  so  the  people  were  called 
to  pass  upon  them — upon  the  war.  They  declared 
2,200,000  for  Lincoln,  to  1, 800,000  for  the  gen 
eral,  who,  in  his  days  of  young  glory,  used  to 
snub  his  chief,  and  who  recently  compared  himself 
with  Lee — a  really  great  captain.*  Twenty-two  of 
the  twenty-five  states  condemned  him — under 
whose  eyes  he  performed  all  he  ever  anywhere 
did. 

One  monument  the  Thirty-eighth  congress 
erected  to  itself,  the  thirteenth  amendment  of  the 
constitution  abolishing  slavery. 

The  year  '64  lapsed  to  '65.  The  great  Rebellion 
came  suddenly  to  an  end. 

The  great  President — his  work  done — suddenly 
departed. 

No  creation  of  the  tragic  muse  ever  has  or 
ever  will  equal- the  dramatic  effect  of  these  closing 
scenes. 

Many  years  are  left  me,  and  Wade,  the  vice- 
president,  with  a  single  vote  between  him  and  the 
headship  of  the  victorious,  restored  republic,  and 
the  end. 

*  Written  in  the  lifetime  of  General  McClellan. 


B.  F.    WADE.  265 

The  war  in  a  way  fought  itself.  Its  waste  and 
ruin,  shattered  states,  its  political  and  social  frag 
ments,  will  not  restore  themselves  and  spon 
taneously  take  on  new  forms,  with  needed  crys 
tallizations  and  growths.  Great  care  and  much 
time  will  be  needful  for  these  purposes.  An 
old  civilization,  old  economies  and  industries, 
are  to  pass.  There  will  be  the  old  race  preju 
dices,  the  greatest  and  hardest  of  all  difficul 
ties  to  be  met.  We  abolished  slavery.  We  have 
not  yet  abolished  "  the  nigger."  He  is  to  be  out 
grown — evolved  away  by  a  slow  process — van 
ished  by  evolution. 


CHAPTER  X. 

The  Conquered.— Task  of  the  Conquerors.— President  Johnson.— His 
Reconstruction. — The  Thirty-ninth  Congress. — New  Men. — Civil 
Rights. — The  Fortieth  Congress. — New  Men. — Mr.  Stanton. — Im 
peachment  Managers. — The  Impeachment  Court. — The  Trial. — 
Speeches. — Acquittal. — Congressional  Reconstruction. — The  Freed- 
men. — The  Experiment  of  Their  Use. — Mr.  Wade's  Retirement. — 
The  Close. 

THE  old  war  horse  is  comparatively  useless  for 
agricultural  purposes.  He  is  alway  hearing  the 
bugle  call. 

Most  of  the  men  fashioned  under  the  influence 
of  the  rising  anti-slavery  struggle — all  middle  aged 
men  at  the  beginning  of  the  Rebellion,  in  congress 
or  elsewhere,  in  positions  where  they  took  active 
part  in  shaping,  impelling,  or  fighting  the  war, 
whose  mode  and  habit  of  thought  and  mind,  ran 
in  its  narrow  intense  currents — the  men  in  short 
who  demolished  the  mushroom  slave  empire,  de 
stroyed  the  industries  of  its  people,  freed  their 
serfs,  shivered  their  civilization,  by  subverting  its 
foundations,  were  not  thereby,  a  priori,  eminently 
fitted  to  clear  the  soil  of  the  encumbering  ruins, 
plant  anew  their  own  civilization,  rebuild  institu 
tions,  and  reconstruct  the  states.  This  was  their 
task  without  precedent  in  their  own  or  any  other 


J5.   F.    WADE.  267 

history,  with  no  guide  but  what  they  knew  of  the 
field  and  its  occupants,  whom  they  entirely  mis 
understood  at  the  beginning  of  the  war,  and  whose 
good  qualities  and  aptitudes  for  peaceful  pursuits 
they  were  yet  to  learn.  Ruined,  subdued,  sullen, 
the  people  still  enraged,  they,  the  conquerors  in 
the  pride  and  insolence  of  complete  and  perfect 
triumph,  were  to  attempt  this.  Never  in  history 
was  a  conquest  so  perfect.  The  war  had  ceased  to 
be  civil,  became  national,  yet  no  semblance  of 
nationality  remained  to  the  defeated,  with  which  a 
treaty  could  be  entered  into,  and  terms  made.  While 
such  existed  the  rebels  had  refused  terms  of  re 
turn.  The  peoples  were  rather  incongruous  parts 
of  a  whole  with  a  once  common  law,  a  common 
language,  origin,  history.  So  much  to  begin  with. 
The  worst — the  hardest,  most  persistent  obstacles 
were  the  freedmen  soon  to  become  citizens,  while 
the  masters  remained  disfranchised.  The  first 
thing  to  decide  was  the  fate  of  the  foe — the  leaders 
— traitors  by  law — eleven  great  statefulls.  But 
one  state  prisoner  was  made. 

That  Senator  Wade  would  be  largely  and  un 
consciously  as  all  were,  under  the  full  influence  of 
the  law  of  human  nature,  the  habit  of  mind  pre 
vailing,  was  very  certain.  The  conquered  were  not 
an  enemy  to  be  treated  with,  were  criminals — the 
great  leaders — to  be  punished.  Probably  the  gen 
eral  idea  never  presented  itself  to  his  mind,  that 
the  war  was  the  crisis  of  a  great  epoch  in  the  history 
of  races,  unavoidable,  conducted  up  to  in  the  or- 


268  B.  F.   WADE. 

derly  course  of  great  events,  and  that  the  fallen  on 
both  sides — the  losing  party  in  the  struggle  of 
great  systems,  freedom  and  slavery — the  future  with 
the  past,  on  the  great  fields  of  the  present — were 
really  the  victims — the  martyrs  of  that,  and  not 
the  doers  of  otherwise  punishable  crimes.  Few, 
perhaps,  now  give  hospitality  to  this  notion.  If 
named  to  them  it  is  rejected.  For  the  time  these 
leaders  were  great  criminals,  to  be  dealt  with — some 
of  them — as  such.  IVLr.  Davis  was  solemnly  in 
dicted  at  Richmond  and  incarcerated  in  a  casemate 
of  Fortress  Monroe.* 

Mr.  Johnson,  on  accession  to  the  Presidency,  as 
we  remember,  talked  savagely  of  inexorable  pun 
ishment,  would  hear  to  nothing  short.  Delega 
tions  and  embassies,  one  notable  from  the  churches, 
sought  in  vain  to  soften  his  solemn  resentment. 

Mr.  Wade  of  the  God-fearing  Puritans  had  per 
haps  advanced  notions.  He  alway  remembered 
mercy.  He  sought  to  soften  the  wrath  of  the 
President  toward  the  offenders.  This  is  the  re 
ported  interview — much  more  was  said  : 

President  J. — Mr.  Wade,  what  would  you  do,  were  you  in  my  place, 
charged  with  my  responsibilities? 

Senator  W. — I  think  I  should  either  force  into  exile  or  hang  ten  or 
twelve  of  the  worst  of  those  fellows — perhaps  for  full  measure,  I  should 
make  it  thirteen,  just  a  baker's  dozen. 

President  J. — But  how  are  you  going  to  pick  out  so  small  a  number 
and  show  them  to  be  guiltier  than  the  rest? 

Senator  W. — It  won't  do  to  hang  a  very  large  number.  I  think  if 
you  would  give  me  time,  I  could  name  thirteen  that  would  stand  at  the 

*  He  "adhered  to  the  king's  enemies."  His  more  recent  givings 
out  throw  doubt  on  his  giving  them  provable  "aid  and  comfort." 


B.  F.    WADE.  269 

head  in  the  work  of  Rebellion.  We  would  all  agree  on  Jeff  Davis,  * 
Toombs,  Benjamin,  Slidell,  Mason,  Howell  Cobb.  If  we  did  no  more 
than  drive  these  half-dozen  out  of  the  country,  we  should  accomplish 
a  good  deal.f 

The  President  went  inexorably  fuming  about  for 
three  or  four  weeks,  in  this  vindictive  mood. 
He  professed  more  confidence  in  and  reliance  on 
Wade,  at  that  time,  than  on  any  other  man.  This 
was  a  comforting  assurance  to  the  Republicans  in 
congress.  He  was  openly  hostile  to  Mr.  Lincoln's 
scheme  of  reconstruction,  and  it  was  supposed  Mr. 
Seward  would  be  exchanged  for  Mr.  Preston  King 
because  of  that.  The  Republican  heads  who  had 
gathered  in  the  capitol  in  dismay,  doubt  and  great  un 
certainty,  returned  home  feeling  reassured.  As  will 
be  remembered,  Mr.  Johnson  was  the  single  repre- 

*Mr.  Davis  was  admitted  to  bail  by  Horace  Greeley  becoming 
surety,  and  in  1868  the  prosecution  was  dismissed.  His  citizenship  was 
never  restored. 

•j*  As  may  be  remembered,  Mr.  Wade  was  opposed  to  the  execution 
of  Mrs.  Surratt.  He  believed  her  innocent. 

On  Pennsylvania  avenue,  a  few  blocks  west  of  the  capitol,  stands 
the  oldest  bookstore  in  Washington.  In  times  gone  by,  when  book 
stores  were  few,  this  was  a  great  resort  for  public  men,  who 
dropped  in  to  buy  a  periodical  on  their  way  to  and  from  the  capi 
tol.  Benton,  Clay,  Calhoun,  Douglas  and  other  notables  were  daily 
visitors.  Mr.  Wade,  who  lived  at  No.  6  4^  street,  where  so  many 
congressmen  boarded  in  those  days,  would  always  stop  on  his  way  to 
and  from  the  capitol  and  look  over  the  latest  things  in  books  and 
magazines.  He  seemed  to  take  much  interest  in  the  literature  of  the  day, 
and  is  credited  with  the  distinction  of  having  bought  the  first  copy  of 
Harper ' s  Magazine  ever  sold  in  Washington.  The  bookseller — Joe 
Shillington — who  still  lives,  takes  a  good  deal  of  pleasure  in  recounting 
old  memories,  and  often  entertains  his  customers  with  reminiscences  of 
distinguished  men  who  figured  in  the  country's  history  thirty  or  forty 
years  ago.  One  evening  lately  the  writer  happened  into  the  old  store 


270  B.  F.    WADE. 

sentative  in  either  house  of  congress,from  the  eleven 
seceding  states,  who  remained  loyal,  and  took  his 
seat  in  the  senate  as  stated.  Mr.  Lincoln  later 
appointed  him  military  governor  of  Tennessee, 
where  his  services  were  valuable,  and  meantime, 
though  elected  Vice-President,  he  continued  to 
perform  the  duties  as  governor.  In  this  capacity 
he  reconstructed  Tennessee  in  the  winter  of  1864-5, 
and  Brownlow  was  elected  governor.  His  ground 
was  that,  mauger  secession,  the  states  were  still  in 
the  Union,  which  was  not  the  unanimous  opinion 
of  congress,  which  alone  could  settle  it  by  admit 
ting  or  rejecting  congressional  delegations. 

The  President  was   urged    to   call   a   session   of 
congress.      He  declined.      He  retained   Mr.   Lin- 

and  listened  to  one  of  his  stories  of  the  time  attending  the  trial  of  the 
Lincoln  conspirators.  He  related  in  this  connection  an  episode  of 
Mr.  Wade  and  Judge  Advocate  General  Bingham,  who  prosecuted  the 
accused.  Said  he  : 

On  the  morning  of  the  execution  of  Mrs.  Surratt,  Senator  Ben 
Wade  of  Ohio,  came  into  my  store  and  asked  if  I  had  heard  any  news 
in  regard  to  the  then  all  absorbing  topic,  the  sentence  of  Mrs.  Surratt. 
I  told  him  that  I  had  heaid  nothing  later  than  the  newspapers  gave, 
except  a  rumor  that  the  President  had  positively  refused  to  interfere. 
''Well,"  said  Ben  in  his  positive  manner,  "that  woman  will  never 
hang.  She  has  done  nothing  to  justify  such  punishment,  and  it 
would  be  a  lasting  slur  upon  our  reputation  for  justice  and  honor  if 

Johnson  allows  public  sentiment  to  murder   her.     A   d outrage, 

sir,  an  everlasting  disgrace."  After  saying  this,  he  went  on  toward 
the  capitol.  Soon  Bingham  (John  A.)  came  in  and  wanted  to  know 
if  I  had  heard  anything.  I  told  him  that  Senator  Wade  had  been  in, 
and  what  he  said.  "  Did  Wade  say  that?"  asked  Mr.  Bingham  in 
an  excited  manner.  "  He  did,"  said  1.  "  Well,"  said  Mr.  Bingham, 
emphasizing  each  word  with  a  rap  of  his  cane  on  the  counter,  "he 
hasn't  read  the  testimony,  and  speaks  from  a  superficial  and  senti 
mental  point  of  view."  He  hurried  after  Wade,  and  I  learned  that  he 
found  him  in  a  committee  room,  where  they  had  a  pretty  warm  col 
loquy,  Mr.  Bingham  maintaining  that  the  evidence  was  conclusive 
and  the  sentence  just,  and  Mr.  Wade  holding  a  precisely  contrary 
opinion  without  budging  an  inch. — \Communicated. 


B.  F.   WADE.  271 

coin's  cabinet.  Mr.  Seward,  it  will  be  remem- 
bered,  was  then  prostrate  from  the  w<">"n.d  by  the 
conspirator  Payne.  He  speedily  recovered,  and 
came  forth  with  a  strong  desire  for  an  immediate 
restoration  of  all  the  states. 

A  man  great  in  debate,  in  council,  with  much 
personal  magnetism,  he  at  once  quite  possessed 
the  President,  with  whom  he  before  had  little  in 
common.  He  charmed  away  his  resentments  to 
ward  the  rebel  leaders.  He  may  have  roused  his 
personal  ambitions.  He  certainly  knew  the  lowly- 
born  white,  who  learned  his  alphabet  at  fifteen, 
whose  early  years  were  spent  on  a  tailor's  board, 
who  though  a  senator,  a  man  of  mind,  political 
following,  had  all  his  life  been  proscribed  by  the 
slavery  aristocracy,  and  whose  highest  aspiration 
— the  dearest  wish  of  whose  heart  was  to  be  ac 
cepted  in  its  charmed  circle — and  he  may  have 
suggested  the  magnanimous  revenge  of  a  great 
soul,  and  now  become  their  benefactor.  Through 
these  instrumentalities  Seward  sought  purely  what 
to  him  seemed  the  best  public  good.  The  revo 
lution  in  the  President's  mind  and  plans  was  un 
doubtedly  the  facile  work  of  Mr.  Seward.  He 
held  that  reconstruction  was  properly  the  work  of 
the  executive.  Congress  could  not  convene  till 
December,  unless  called.  That,  as  stated,  the  Presi 
dent  refused  to  do.  All  the  leading  Republicans 
whose  views  were  well  known  were  at  their 
remote  homes,  dreaming  of  no  ill.  The  time  was 
favorable. 


272  B.  F.   WADE. 

The  President's  first  step  was  a  sweeping  am 
nesty  and  pardon,  which  restored  citizen  fran 
chise,  save  to  the  excepted,  who  were  arranged 
in  twelve  or  fourteen  classes,  and  provisional 
governors  appointed  in  North  Carolina,  Virginia, 
Tennessee,  and  other  states — in  short  the  Pres 
ident,  under  the  counsels  of  his  secretary  of 
state,  placed  himself  fully  in  the  arms  of  the 
south  and  of  their  old  and  alway  allies,  the 
northern  Democracy,  and  the  Republicans  who 
went  home  returned  to  the  capital  to  be  con 
fronted  with  the  returned  south,  clamorous  for 
their  old  places  on  the  old  terms. 

So  much  seems  necessary  to  an  appreciation  of 
Mr.  Wade's  position  and  duties,  and  so  much  of 
what  followed  as  my  now  limited  space  permits 
mention  of.  Of  course  Mr.  Johnson's  recon 
structed  states,  himself  and  policy,  were  promptly 
rejected  by  congress.  He  and  it  became  objects 
of  scorn  and  derision.  He  was  belligerent,  full  of 
courage  and  pluck,  and  struck  back  quick  and 
viciously  where  and  when  he  could.  Unques 
tionably  he  was  advised  by  the  ablest  Democratic 
lawyers  to  disperse  the  Republican  congress  and 
reconstruct  one  of  southern  senators  and  repre 
sentatives,  with  those  of  the  northern  Democracy 
and  such  Republicans  as  would  occupy  seats  be 
longing  to  them.* 

*  I  was  then  and  ever  since  a  resident  of  the  capital.  I  knew  all  the 
leading  men  very  well.  The  late  Judge  Jerry  S.  Black,  in  the  winter 
after  the  assembling  of  the  Thirty-ninth  congress — I  believe,  in  my 


B.  F.   WADE.  273 

It  is  thus  seen  that  the  Thirty-ninth  congress 
met  under  conditions  little  less  embarrassing  than 
those  attending  the  convention  of  the  Thirty- 
seventh.  It  began  with  a  bitter  feud  with  the 
President,  and  when  we  hold  as  we  must  that  it 
was  the  duty  with  exclusive  correlative  power  of 
congress  to  prescribe  the  rule  and  method  of 
dealing  with  the  conquered  states — if  states  they 
still  were — it  is  seen  that  the  President  was  not 
blameless.  His  course  greatly  enhanced  the  losses 
of  the  war,  and  greatly  delayed  a  return  to  order 
and  restoration.  There  were  years  of  misrule, 
crime  and  blood  to  be  charged  to  this  unfortunate 
division  of  counsels.  Nor  can  the  northern 
Democracy  be  held  less  culpable  through  this 
period  than  during  the  four  years  of  the  war,  and 
as  aiding  in  the  causes  which  led  to  that.  Of 
course  the  growing  gap  thus  opened  between  the 
great  party  and  Mr.  Seward  severed  all  purely 
party  relations.* 

The  Thirty-ninth  congress  met  under  extraor 
dinary  circumstances.  Its  sessions  were  the 

presence  and  addressed  to  me — uttered  a  bitter  denunciation  of  the 
President,  as  a  weak  and  most  cowardly  man.  I  did  not  ask  what 
instances  in  conduct  he  referred  to.  I  had  no  doubt.  The  principal 
alarm  at  Washington  was  during  the  summer  of  '66,  after  the  adjourn 
ment  of  congress  the  last  of  that  July.  We  then  organized  a  club  for 
watchfulness.  I  was  counsel  for  Mr.  Stanton  in  various  cases,  and 
had  several  interviews  with  him  on  this  matter.  I  now  have  no  notion 
that  Mr.  Johnson  ever  entertained  the  idea  of  the  use  of  force  in  his 
unfortunate  contest  with  the  Republicans  in  congress. 

*  "  What  a  bungler  Payne  was,"  exclaimed  old  Thad,  in  one  of  his 
moments  of  bitter  irony. 


274  B.  F.    WADE. 

most  memorable  of  our  history.  In  none  were 
the  high  debating  qualities  of  its  men  more 
conspicuous.  Many  new  men  had  entered  the 
Thirty-eighth,  and  several  appeared  in  the  Thirty- 
ninth.  Edmunds  was  in  the  senate,  so  was 
Guthrie,  Garrett  Davis,  Hendricks,  and  Yates. 
Reverdy  Johnson  and  Creswell  were  there  from 
Maryland  ;  Howard  was  Chandler's  colleague ; 
Henderson  and  Gratz  Brown  spoke  for  Missouri; 
Oregon  sent  Williams,  and  E.  D.  Morgan  was 
with  Harris  from  New  York.  General  Spragueand 
Anthony  represented  Rhode  Island.  There  were 
other  conspicuous  men  since  we  glanced  at  the 
personnel  of  the  Thirty-seventh.  Foster  of  Con 
necticut  was  its  president.  In  the  house  Colfax 
was  in  his  second  term  as  speaker,  ready,-  suave, 
firm,  popular.  Judge  Kelley,  beginning  in  the 
Thirty-sixth,  had  already  reached  a  great  position. 
Shellebarger  was  back  there,  and  was  soon  at 
the  front  as  one  of  the  very  ablest.  Cullom 
and  Allison  were  in  that  house.  Orth,  Bout- 
well,  Green  Clay  Smith,  Raymond,  Hale,  Gris- 
wold,  Columbus  Delano,  Hayes  and  Spalding 
were  there  together  in  that  house.  Randall  also 
reflected — not  before  named — as  was  Stevens — 
a  remarkable  house.  Conkling,  Garfield  and 
Elaine  were  still  there.  A  very  able  congress. 
Eminently  a  speaking  congress,  whose  debates, 
often  with  temper,  were  the  longest,  the  strong 
est,  and  as  ably  conducted  as  any  shown  by  the 
annals  of  congress.  Reconstruction  was  the 


B.  F.    WADE.  275 

absorbing,  all  pervading  subject — the  condition  of 
the  south,  its  treatment  of  the  freedmen,  its  tone, 
temper  and  attitude. 

There  was  the  great  civil  rights  bill,  the  amend 
rnent  of  the  Freedman's  bureau — both  passed, 
vetoed,  and  carried  over  the  President's  head.  It 
was  on  the  passage  of  the  civil  rights  bill  that 
Wade  made  his  thrilling,  exciting  speech — in  the 
spirit  of  the  old  Puritans,  seeing  the  hand  of  God 
in  the  prostration  of  its  enemies,  and,declaring  his 
purpose  to  act  with  the  Almighty.  The  four 
teenth  amendment  was  wrought  out  at  that  session, 
largely  the  work  of  General  Schenck.  Some  de 
fections,  noticeably  that  of  Jim  Lane,  from  his 
radical  associates,  occurred.  Wade  administered  a 
rebuke  to  Lane,  and  he  soon  after  committed 
suicide  as  did  Preston  King.  It  was  supposed  that 
remorse  for  his  desertion  was  largely  a  cause  of 
Lane's  wretched  end.  It  came  to  be  midsummer 
ere  the  two  houses  were,  through  with  their  great 
labors.  During  the  following  winter  the  citizens  of 
Washington,  on  the  twenty-second  day  of  Feb- 
ruary,  cordially  supporting  the  President,  adjourned 
a  mass  meeting  to  the  grounds  of  the  white  house, 
and  the  President  in  a  reckless,  utterly  discreditable, 
painful  way,  addressed  the  crowd,  singling  out  his 
enemies  by  name,  in  response  to  voices  in  the 
throng.  He  did  "not  waste  ammunition  on  a 
dead  duck, "  (Forney).  War  henceforth  between  him 
and  the  too  powerful  Republicans  was  open,  bitter 
past  treaty  or  terms. 


276  B.  F.   WADE. 

The  summer  following  saw  his  famous  progress 
through  the  north — (<  swinging  round  the  circle." 
At  Cleveland  he  got  angry  again.  The  low-born, 
underbred,  pugnacious,  uncultured  ruffian  reap 
peared,  painfully  recalling  the  twenty-second  of 
February,  and  the  more  humiliating  scene  in  the 
senate  chamber  of  his  inaugural  address,  in  the 
presence  of  the  diplomats  of  western  Europe. 
That  was  the  summer  of  alleged  arming  of  the 
Maryland  militia,  to  aid  the  President  in  a  sup 
posed  forcible  reorganization  of  congress,  of  which 
no  evidence  has  yet  been  produced — none  ex 
ists.  That  he  was  advised  by  some  of  the  ablest 
of  his  friends  to  attempt  such  a  solution,  there  is 
no  doubt  ;  nor  yet  that  fifty  thousand  of  the 
trained  veterans  of  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Re 
public,  under  Garfield  and  others,  were  in  readi 
ness  to  come  to  the  defense  of  the  constitutional 
congress.  At  the  flash  of  the  telegraph  they 
would  appear.  There  was  a  very  feverish  state  of 
insecurity  at  Washington  during  the  absence  of 
congress,  and  a  small  club  of  gentlemen,  as  stated, 
was  organized  to  keep  themselves  advised  of  any 
movement  that  might  be  set  on  foot.  Nothing 
occurred  to  warrant  apprehension.  They  were  in 
frequent  communication  with  Secretary  Stanton. 
The  alarm  was  never  given. 

The  congressional  elections  of  1866  were  most 
disastrous  to  the  President  and  Mr.  Seward.  The 
next  house  was  three  to  one  against  them.  Let  us 
hope  no  conditions  in  the  future  will  ever  produce  a 


B.  F.    WADE.  277 

party  powerful  enough  to  set  aside  a  President  at 
will  and  amend  the  constitution  at  pleasure.  The 
conditions  must  be  full  of  peril.  Such  a  party  is 
itself  a  great  peril.  That  time  was  the  sorest  test 
of  the  extraordinary  qualities  of  the  Republicans. 
History  may  convict  them  of  mistakes — indiscre 
tions  ;  of  a  want  of  patriotism,  firmness,  large 
wisdom,  courage,  it  cannot.  In  the  ensuing  ses 
sion  the  suspended  war  on  the  President  was 
pushed  with  renewed  vigor.  The  now  ten  con 
federate  states  had  all  rejected  the  fourteenth 
amendment.  They  were  not  states.  The  military 
government  act  was  passed,  the  south  divided 
into  military  districts,  the  Freedmen  were  armed 
with  the  elective  franchise,  and  the  President's 
hands  tied,  by  the  tenure  of  office  law — these  in 
spite  of  his  veto  and  over  it. 

COn  the  second  of  March,  1867,  Benjamin  F. 
Wade  was  elected  president  of  the  senate — the 
congress  passing  out  of  existence  with  the  next 
day. 

That  was  a  great  congress.  It  did  many  things 
beside  those  named.  It  created  the  pension 
system,  with  soldier  asylums.  It  directed  a  revision 
of  the  statutes ;  enacted  the  homestead  law  ;  revised 
and  made  effective  the  Pacific  railroad  charter.  It 
passed  the  bankrupt  act,  and  contributed  much 
useful  legislation  of  permanent  value  to  the  Re 
public.  Its  (fourteenth)  volume  consists  of  near 
one  thousand  pages. 

Mr.  Wade  will  preside  over  the  senate  of  the 


278  B.  F.    WADE. 

Fortieth  congress.  His  election  at  that  crisis  had 
great  significance.  It  marked  the  senatorial  esti 
mate  of  the  times,  the  general  estimate  of  the 
man.  Many  regarded  it  an  election  to  the  presi 
dency  of  the  Republic.  Things  had  been  said  in 
timating  a  removal  of  "the  executive  obstacle." 
Mr.  Johnson  declared  his  assassination  was  in 
tended,  and  for  the  first  time  he  glorified  the 
murdered  Lincoln.  Ere  its  final  adjournment 
without  day — save  its  day  in  history — the  Thirty- 
ninth  congress  provided  by  its  own  act,  for  the 
assembling  of  its  successor  on  the  day  of  its  disso 
lution,  March  4,  1867.  That  congress  was  to  sit 
almost  continuously.  It  was  to  see  a  return  of 
nearly  all  the  states,  with  their  delegations  in  both 
houses,  under  the  very  doubtful  plan  of  congress 
itself,  against  the  declared  will  of  the  President, 
attended  by  the  day  of  the  "carpet  bag"  govern 
ments  of  the  southern  states — certainly  a  punish 
ment  which,  if  inflicted  as  such,  the  constitution 
forbade.  It  is  probable  that  the  instrument  itself 
did  not  permit  the  preceding  condition  of  things ; 
but  as  a  matter  of  law,  it  may  well  be  doubted 
whether  the  constitution — the  law  of  the  states  alone 
— can  be  said  to  exist,  where  and  when  a  state  as 
such  has  ceased.  That  is  a  question  for  legal 
casuists.  Mr.  Sumner  would  have  divided  the 
territory  of  the  confederacy  into  new  states. 

The  senate  had  received  some  stronger  men. 
Simon  Cameron  for  the  third  time  returned  to  it 
after  long  absence ;  Morrill,  fully  matured ;  Charles 


B.   F.    WADE. 


279 


S.  Drake,  a  strong  man;  Oliver  P.  Morton,  one  of 
the  strongest,  and  of  the  Wade  type.  There,  too, 
now  appeared  Roscoe  Conkling,  of  full  growth, 
presaging  war.  Two  infinities  cannot  occupy  the 
same  space.  Sumner  was  still  there.  Butler, 
Beck  and  others  were  in  the  house.  John  A. 
Logan  reappeared  there.  Judd  from  his  foreign 
mission.  Peters  from  Maine. 

To  supplement  and  perfect  the  work  of  the  last 
congress,  and  carry  on  the  war  with  the  President, 
was  the  mission  of  this  congress.  There  was  the 
now  chronic  thing  of  passing  and  repassing  bills 
and  thus  escape  "the  obstacle."  Meantime  we 
saw  the  congressional  scheme  accomplished,  and 
all  the  states  restored  at  the  second  session.  The 
fourteenth  amendment  was  now  ratified  by  states. 
Africa  was  to  be  represented  in  congress,  and 
that  body  turned  its  attention  to  the  vast  war  debt 
to  be  funded. 

Already).  M.  Ashley,  of  Ohio,  as  long  before 
as  January  7,  '67,  had  risen  in  his  place  in  the 
house,  and  after  the  imposing  formula  of  Burke  in 
the  British  commons,  in  his  historic  impeachment 
of  Warren  Hasting  "of  high  crimes  and  misde 
meanors,"  and  impeached  the  President  of  the 
United  States.  It  had  been  much  talked  of.  The 
act  greatly  impressed  the  outside  world.  The 
house  was  not  startled.  The  matter  was  sent  to 
the  judiciary  committee,  who  reported  it  back  the 
day  the  senate  elected  Wade  to  the  presidency. 
On  the  seventh  day  of  March,  Mr.  Ashley  called 


280  B.  F.    WADE. 

it  to  the  attention  of  the  new  house.  The  Dem 
ocrats  opposed.  Mr.  Ashley's  resolution  passed, 
and  so  he  had  launched  it.  Mr.  Boutwell,  chair 
man,  reported  a  resolution  ordering  an  impeach 
ment.  December  7,  following,  it  was  defeated, 
yeas  fifty-seven,  nays  one  hundred  and  eight.  It 
was  hoped  this  disposition  was  final. 

There  long  had  been  a  bitter  feud  between  the 
President  and  the  secretary  of  war  appointed  by 
Mr.  Lincoln  in  spite  of  Montgomery  Blair's  stren 
uous  opposition,  and  retained  by  Mr.  Johnson 
over  his  protest.  Early  in  August  ('66)  the  Pres 
ident  asked  him  to  resign.  He  refused.  The 
President  suspended  him  and  Grant  took  his  place. 
Under  the  tenure  of  office  act  the  President,  on  the 
twelfth  of  December,  five  days  after  the  above  deci 
sive  action  of  the  house  on  his  case,  first  communi 
cated  his  action  and  reasons  to  the  senate.  He  made 
a  strong  case  of  "  incompatibility  of  temper. "  On 
the  thirteenth  of  January,  '68,  the  senate  declared 
his  grounds  insufficient  and  "the  senate  does  not 
concur."  Grant  never  liked  Stanton.  He  locked 
the  war  office  door,  and  with  his  head  pitched 
forward,  both  hands  in  the  bottom  of  his  pockets, 
took  his  silent,  thoughtful  way  to  headquarters. 
That  was  before  he  invented  for  himself  the  art  of 
speaking.  It  was  suggested  to  the  President  to 
nominate  General  J.  D.  Cox  for  the  post — a.certain 
graceful  way  out.  "  I  take  no  backward  step  " — 
he  had  proclaimed  months  before.  He  loved  a 
fight.  He  hated  Stanton.  Both  the  strongest 


B.  F.   WADE.  281 

passions  of  his  intense  nature  made  him  retain  Stan- 
ton — or  leave  him  where  congress  and  his  friends 
found  him.  There  was  an  intermediate  quarrel 
between  Johnson  and  Grant  meantime.  The 
President  said  the  general  was  to  hold  on  till  the 
supreme  court  settled  the  status  of  Stanton.  The 
general  denied,  and  was  lost  to  the  President  in 
the  war. 

So  the  matter  hung  in  solution  till  the  President 
removed  Stanton,  then  in  possession,  and  appointed 
General  Lorenzo  Thomas  secretary  of  war  ad  in 
terim.  The  general  moved  on  the  war  office,  made 
an  assault,  was  himself  assaulted,  retired,  and  sued 
the  stout  secretary  for  $100,000.* 

The  house  took  the  matter  up  now  with  decided 
temper,  more  than  that  sorely  tried  body  had 
before  shown.  The  day  following  the  action  of 
the  senate  on  the  last  movement  of  the  President, 
Mr.  Stevens  reported  a  new  resolution  of  impeach 
ment,  and  after  each  of  the  leaders  made  statements 
rather  than  speeches — certainly  not  arguments — 
Mr.  Stevens  closed  pungently ;  the  vote  taken  and  it 
passed — one  hundred  and  twenty-six  to  forty-seven. 
So  the  President  soon  thereafter  was  impeached 
pro  forma,  at  the  solemn  bar  of  the  senate,  March 
5.  Messrs.  Bingham,  Boutwell,  Wilson,  Butler, 
Williams,  Logan  and  Stevens — standing  in  the 
order  of  the  vote  each  received — Mr.  Bingham  the 
highest,  one  hundred  and  fourteen  ;  Thaddeus 

*  Mat  Carpenter  and  myself  were  retained  by  the  secretary — I  had 
defended  General  Terry,  General  Scofield  and  General  Baker  twice, 
once  at  Trenton,  and  again  in  Washington — by  his  direction. 


282  B.  F.  WADE. 

Stevens  the  lowest,  one  hundred  and  five — were 
appointed  managers. 

The  opening  of  the  great  national  court  of  im 
peachment  for  the  trial  of  the  President,  though 
simple,  was  imposing.  The  great  chief-justice,  in  his 
black  robes  of  office,  presided — in  personnel  next 
Washington,  the  grandest  figure  in  our  history. 
Then  at  his  best,  of  all  the  men  of  his  time,  he 
stands  in  the  field  of  inner  vision,  unapproachable 
and  alone.  By  his  side  sat  the  president  of  the 
senate,  sixty-eight  years  of  age,  with  snow-white 
hair  and  eyebrows,  his  firm  and  fine  grained  face 
smooth  shaven  and  florid,  with  his  unwinking 
intensely  black  solemn  eyes,  in  which  lay  the 
unquenchable  fire  under  a  thin  veil  of  lashes,  always 
ready  to  flash,  his  form  a  little  rounded  and  fuller; 
erect,  with  no  diminution  of  mental  or  physical 
force,  sui  generis,  yet  the  peer  of  peers.* 
There  was  the  short,  compact,  fine  figure  of  the 
accused,  with  his  strongly  marked  iron  gray  face, 

*  No  two  men  of  the  day  presented  a  more  striking  contrast  than  the 
chief-justice  and  the  president  of  the  senate.  An  incident  of  the  Pres 
ident's  room,  characteristic  of  the  two,  got  whispered  outside.  Dur 
ing  the  trial  this  room  was  the  robing  room  of  the  president  of  the 
court.  One  day,  at  the  moment  of  arraying,  this  qualifying  adjective 
could  not  be  found.  The  attendant  pages,  one  or  two  gentlemen 
present,  the  unbending  chief  himself  took  part  in  a  search  for  this  pre 
fix.  The  case  was  grave.  The  court  could  not  go  on.  At  the  last 
moment  Wade,  who  had  grimly  observed  the  scene,  saw  something 
black  under  some  other  thing,  and  lunging  it  with  his  cane  fished  out 
the  delinquent  black  samite  which  he  irreverently  held  out  at  the  cane's 

end  with,    "Here,   Chase — here's   your old  gown."     The  pages 

ghastly  at  the  speech,  .reverently  rescued  it,  and  the  pale  and  silent 
chief-justice  was  befittingly  pobed.  An  added  dignity  sat  on  his  regaj 
brow  all  that  eventful  day.  \ 


B.  F,    WADE.  283 

dark  brow,  under  his  iron  gray  hair,  which  the 
iron  would  never  leave,  with  his  counsel,  Henry 
Stanbery,  attorney-general;  William  M.  Evarts, 
Benjamin  R.  Curtis,  William  S.  Groesbeck,  and  T. 
A.  R.  Neilson  of  Tennessee,  on  the  left  of  the 
president  of  the  senate,  with  the  managers  on  the 
right.  The  senators  in  their  seats.  The  accusing 
house  ranged  about  in  their  rear.  The  available 
space  of  gallery,  lobby,  and  cloak  room  was 
crowded  with  distinguished  men  and  elegantly 
robed  women,  admitted  by  card.  This  on  March 
23,  1868. 

Mr.  Butler,  alway  an  indifferent  speaker,  opened 
at  great  length,  reading  from  printed  slips — his 
nose  seeming  to  touch  the  paper — to  which  was 
appended  Judge  Lawrence's  strong  brief.  Then 
followed  the  accuser's  evidence. 

Judge  Curtis  opened  the  defense.  He  dis 
sented  as  justice  of  the  supreme  court  in  the 
Dred  Scott  case,  as  will  be  remembered.  One 
of  the  clearest  judicial  minds  of  his  time,  too  judi 
cial  for  the  highest  achievement  of  advocacy. 
His  strength  as  a  lawyer  was  a  rare  discrimination  ; 
as  an  advocate,  in  clearness  of  statement.  Per 
haps  of  the  great  array  of  lawyers  he  best  met  the 
expectation  of  him.  Two  days  he  held  the  atten 
tion  of  the  court. 

On  the  conclusion  of  the  evidence,  April  22, 
General  Logan  delivered  a  masterly  summing-up 
for  the  managers.  Vigor  characterizes  his  speeches. 
He  was  followed  by  Boutwell  in  an  able,  perhaps 


284  B.  F.    WADE. 

the  most  ambitious  effort  of  the  trial.  Then  came 
the  Tennessee  lawyer,  with  possibly  the  handsom 
est  and  most  rhetorical  of  all  the  performances. 
Next  in  order  was  Mr.  Groesbeck's  speech,  spoken 
of  as,  on  the  whole,  the  most  effective  of  the  great 
occasion.  He  replied  especially  to  Boutwell. 
Mr.  Stevens,  seldom  happy  in  his  studied  efforts, 
with  not  a  pleasing  voice  or  very  impressive  man 
ner,  worn  and  already  feeble,  gave  his  manuscript 
to  Butler — of  all  men — to  read  for  him.  Then 
came  Evarts  for  the  defense.  He  never  failed. 
It  was  thought  he  would  never  end.  His  argu 
ment,  illustration  and  presentation  were  admirable, 
with  some  play  of  wit.  No  one  could  have  met 
the  expectation  of  him.  Those  who  had  heard 
Stanbery  at  his  best  in  Ohio  and  wished  to  see 
him  bear  the  palm  of  this  great  forensic  battle, 
as  he  might  once  have  done,  were  prepared  for 
the  disappointment  that  strangers  experienced. 
Long  ill-health,  shattered  nerves,  over  anxiety, 
left  him  a  splendid  ruin.  John  A.  Bingham  closed 
the  case  in  an  over-prepared,  though  able,  and,  in 
many  ways,  conclusive  speech.  I've  heard  him 
much  more  effective,  notably  in  reply  to  Wads- 
worth's  'masterly  and  brilliant  first  speech  in  the 
house  of  the  Thirty-seventh. 

The  case  was  submitted. 

On  May  1 1  the  senate,  in  the  midst  of  the 
profoundest  excitement,  voted  on  the  eleventh 
article.  The  vote  stood — guilty  35,  not  guilty  19. 
Later  the  vote  was  taken  on  such  other  of  the 


B.  F.    WADE.  285 

articles  as  the  managers  desired,  with  the  same 
result,  the  senators  each  gave  the  same  vote  on 
each  issue.  The  President  was  acquitted.  The 
impeachment  court  adjourned  sine  die.  Those  who 
voted  guilty  were  Anthony,  Cameron,  Cattell, 
Chandler,  Cole,  Conkling,  Conness,  Corbett, 
Cragin,  Drake,  Edmunds,  Ferry,  Frelinghuysen, 
Harlan,  Howard,  Howe,  Morgan,  Morrill  of  Maine, 
Morrell  of  Vermont,  Morton,  Nye,  Patterson 
of  New  Hampshire,  Pomeroy,  Ramsey,  Sher 
man,  Sprague,  Stewart,  Sumner,  Thayer,  Tipton, 
WADE,  Willey,  Williams,  Wilson  and  Yates. 
Not  guilty — Bayard,  Buckalew,  Davis,  Dixon, 
Doolittle,  Fesenden,  Fowler,  Grimes,  Henderson, 
Hendricks,  Johnson,  McCreery,  Norton,  Patterson 
of  Tennessee,  Ross,  Saulsbury,  Trumbull,  Van- 
Winkle  and  Vickers.  It.  was  thought  after  the 
first  vote  that  Ross  would  vote  guilty  on  the  later 
tests.  It  is  thus  seen  that  a  change  of  one,  of 
several  Republicans  from  the  negative,  would  have 
convicted.  It  was  best  as  it  was.* 

Mr.  Wade  was  criticised  in  some  quarters  for 
hi?  votes  on  the  final  question.  It  was  said  he 
was  directly  interested,  and  voted  for  himself. 
This  is  an  unjust  view.  On  the  trial  he  was  a  sen 
ator.  He  and  a  majority  of  his  state,  believed  the 
accused  was  proved  to  be  guilty  as  charged.  So 
believing,  and  appointed  to  the  duty  of  passing 

*  The  writer,  then  practicing  law  at  the  capital,  was  asked  to  be  re 
tained  to  prepare  the  evidence  against  the  accused.  He  deemed  it  un 
wise  to  accuse,  and  declined.  He  always  honored  Fessenden  and 
Trumbull  for  their  votes. 


286  B.  F.  WADE. 

upon  the  question,  how  could  he  escape  the  duty 
and  thus  enable  a  flagrant  criminal  to  escape  pun 
ishment,  remain  where  he  was,  and  repeat  offences 
in  other  forms?  No  .one  for  an  instant  supposed 
he  was  influenced  by  any  consideration  on  earth, 
save  his  clear  sense  of  what  was  due  to  justice  and 
conscience. 

His  public  career  closed  with  that  notable  Forti- 
•"efh  congress.  He  was  succeeded  by  Allan  G.  Thur- 
man.  The  state  evenly  maintained  her  well  estab 
lished  position  by  the  exchange.  Fairly  estimated, 
she  neither  gained  nor  lost.  Her  new  senator  had 
perhaps  more  culture,  but  not  distinguished  for 
that.  In  intellect  not  a  whit  Wade's  superior. 
He  had  a  wider,  larger  hold  of  the  public.  He 
'  never  attained  Wade's  position  with  his  fellows  on 
the  floor.  In  down  right  manliness,  courage,  firm 
ness  and  independence,  he  was  in  no  way  Wade's 
peer.  There  were  but  few  who  could  claim  to  be. 
Thurman  filled  a  much  larger  space  in  his  party, 
and  so  in  the  public  eye  ;  but,  let  the  truth  be  said, 
it  takes  a  much  larger  man  to  be  one  of  our  great 
Republican  leaders  than  it  did,  or  does,  to  fill  that 
role  with  the  Democracy.  Wade  was  a  singularly 
unambitious  man,  as  seeking  place  and  preferment. 
Had  he  been  a  Democrat,  and  covetous  of  leader 
ship,  he  would  have  been  a  king.  Some  of  his 
more  striking  qualities,  .were  at  higher  premium  in 
the  Democratic  party.  .J 

The  mushroom  negro  governments  were  some 
thing  worse   than  the  saddest  of  failures.     They 


B.  F.    WADE.  287 

seemed  a  necessity,  originating  in  the  blindness 
and  stupidity  of  the  northern  people,  which,  after 
all,  has  shown  itself  to  be  something  prodigious. 
The  adherence  of  the  northern  Democracy  to  the 
south  through  the  ante-war  struggle,  unwittingly 
on  its  part,  was  a  potent  inducement  to  the  south 
to  take  the  fatal  initiative  of  attempting  to  dissolve 
the  political  association.  Of  course,  that  she 
would  seriously  attempt  that,  was  as  unforeseen  by 
the  Democrats  as  the  earlier  Whigs  and  later  Re 
publicans.  A  party  which  should  pursue  the  ante 
helium  course  of  the  Democracy,  with  no  worse 
purpose  to  gain  than  its  continued  ascendancy, 
certainly  is  not  to  be  convicted  of  sagacity  over  its 
political  enemy.  It  was  the  same  stupid,  blind 
party  after  the  war  that  it  was  before.  It  pursued 
the  same  means  to  the  same  end.  It  clamored 
very  effectively  at  the  north  for  the  redemption  of 
the  crushed  south  from  military  oppression,  under 
the  Republican  methods,  devised  to  relieve  the 
Freedmen  of  the  atrocious  oppressions  of  the  un- 
regenerated  masters,  and,  notwithstanding  the  ex 
perience  of  the  northern  voter  with  that  Democracy, 
he  showed  such  an  alarming  tendency  to  again 
trust  it,  not  only  with  his  own  fortunes  but  with 
the  government  of  the  political  fragments,  to  which 
its  well-remembered  misconduct  had  reduced  the 
south.  The  Republicans  were  justly  alarmed. 
The  course  pursued  showed  that  they  dared  not 
longer  trust  solely  to  the  people  of  the  north. 
True,  in  a  long  series  of  years  the  many  times 


288  JB.  F.  WADE. 

changing  popular  estimate  of  men  and  things 
settles  itself  into  irreversible  and  generally  just 
forms.  The  need  was  too  great,  the  time  too 
short,  to  trust  to  this  slow  movement  in  the  ex 
igency.  They  armed  the  freedmen  with  the 
elective  franchise,  and  trusted  that  under  the  lead 
of  Republican  agents,  they  would  stand  firmly  and 
courageously  by  their  personal  and  political  re 
deemers.  Curiously  enough  slavery  had  imparted 
to  them  neither  courage,  wisdom  nor  forecast.  It 
was  supposed  that  an  African,  taught  by  two  hun 
dred  years  of  personal  bondage,  would  prove 
superior  to  the  average  white  man  under  the 
same  conditions.  It  needed  an  experiment  to 
demonstrate  the  fallacy  of  this.  Its  failure  was  the 
bitterest  disappointment.  The  great  long-continued 
war  had  shattered  the  common  basis  of  morals  of  the 
average  man.  The  many  agents  entrusted  with 
the  construction  of  these  anomalous  political  ex 
pedients,  were  as  unfit  for  the  task  as  the  only 
material  at  hand  for  the  edifices.  None  but  the 
highest,  rarest  human  qualities,  never  abundant, 
was  equal  to  the  difficult  if  not  impossible  task. 
Congress  was  armed  with  the  power  of  restoring 
the  disfranchised  rebel  to  citizenship.  It  created 
the  forms  of  states.  It  restored  the  disfranchised 
rebels,  by  fraud,  force,  guile,  violence ;  these  thrust 
by  the  cowardly,  stupid,  still  slaves  in  heart, 
mind  and  spirit  ;  and  took  possession  of  the  state 
governments  made  to  their  hands.  So  the  south 


B.  F.    WADE.  289 

came  back  by  means  complementary  of  the  blood 
and  revolution  by  which  it  went  out. 

The  chief-justice,  in  a  group  of  gentlemen  nom 
inally  assembled  for  a  social  purpose,  thus  stated 
the  Republican  position  before  the  experiment. 
The  northern  clamor  is  for  restored  states.  It  will 
not  cease  until  that  is  accomplished.  That  issue 
must  be  passed  out  of  the  field  of  national  politics. 
The  Republicans  are  necessary  to  the  country. 
The  employment  of  the  freedmen  is  a  necessity  to 
them.  The  third  proposition  of  this  syllogism  was 
obvious.  One  present  replied — "The  condition 
of  the  south  under  slave  rule  will  appeal  more 
powerfully  to  northern  sympathy  than  its  domi 
nation  under  the  military  district  law  can.  The 
issue  will  not  be  passed  out  of  national  politics." 
It  was  tried;  what  followed  is  history.  Its  ex 
ample  would  be  valuable,  but  conditions  never  can 
exist  when  it  may  be  useful. 

)  With  her  sons  in  the  army,  Mrs.  Wade  who  had 
before  been  much  with  her  husband  at  the  capital, 
took  up  her  residence  with  him  there,  during  the 
later  of  his  eighteen  years  of  senatorial  service. 
They  had  pleasant,  convenient  rooms  on  Four  and 
a  half  street,  northwest,  intermediate  between  the 
great  capitol,  the  executive  mansion  and  great 
departments.  A  man  of  action,  of  silent  cogita 
tion,  without  literary  instincts,  not  a  compiler  of 
reports,  a  composer  of  speeches,  or  a  writer  of 
letters — (a  few  cramped  notes,  in  a  hand  that 
would  have  been  the  despair  of  Daniel,  lie  before 


290  B.  F.    WADE. 

me) — the  least  social  of  men,  unless  sought  in 
hours  when  public  men  might  be  enquired  for,  he 
was  alway  found  at  his  rooms  in  even  pleasant 
good  humor.  Mrs.  Wade,  gifted  with  qualities 
that  might  have  made  her  a  social  leader,  an  orna 
ment,  from  the  first,  fully  appreciating  the  quali 
ties  of  her  husband,  devoted  her  fine  powers,  her 
time,  her  life  to  him.  They  were  beautiful  in  their 
mutual  self-devotion  in  the  few  eyes  which  saw 
their  secluded  serene  life,  in  the  heart  of  the  great 
capital,  the  soul  and  centre  of  the  great  civil  con 
vulsion.  She  wrote  his  letters,  cared  for  his  cor 
respondence,  was  his  thoughtful  memory,  a  tender,, 
considerate  part  of  his  conscience.  She  read  to- 
him,  giving  the  charm  of  her  voice,  the  grace  and 
help  of  her  fine  quiet  elocution,  to  aid  the  delivery 
of  her  author,  to  his  appreciative  mind.  The  real 
unseen  life  of  this  manliest  of  men,  and  that  of 
one  of  the  womanliest  of  women,  which  became 
one  so  late  in  their  lives,  was  lovely  in  its  oneness^ 
There  is  a  borderland,  sometimes  a  desert,  which 
surrounds  the  public  life  of  the  capital,  broad  or 
narrow,  as  the  individual  sharing  in  that  life  was 
brief  or  continuing.  Some  never  pass  it  success 
fully.  Men  distinguished  in  congress  return,  seek 
subordinate  places — haunt  the  capital,  like  souls 
whose  bodies  are  buried,  but  will  not  depart.  How 
many  names  of  the  first  spring  to  mind,  some  of 
which  may  be  mentioned.  Mr.  Whittlesey  lived 
and  died  at  Mrs.  Hyatt's  ;  Mr.  Giddings  was  often 
at  the  capital,  could  turn  to  no*  pursuit ;,  Samuel 


B.  f.    WADE.  291 

Vinton  was  an  instance,  and  died  in  exile.  Mr. 
French  of  Maine  came  back,  secured  an  auditor- 
ship  under  Mr.  Lincoln,  and  spent  the  remainder 
of  his  life  in  the  dingy  Winder  building,  made 
short  by  it.  Innumerable  less  fortunate  instances 
of  living  men  crowd  the  memory.  The  country, 
the  capital,  are  full  of  these  restless,  ruined  lives. 

Mr.  Wade,  with  his  noble  consort,  safely  and 
serenely  made  the  transit  of  this  border  country. 
He  was  never  bitten  of  the  Presidency  as  were  Mr. 
Seward,  Mr.  Chase,  and  many  of  our  living  men. 
He  remained  steadily  to  the  end  in  the  bosom  and 
confidence  of  the  Republican  party,  while,  curi 
ously  enough,  Mr.  Seward,  Mr.  Chase,  Mr.  Sum- 
ner  and  Horace  Greeley  all  died  out  of  it — exiled 
in  a  way  by  men  created  by  the  fruits  of  their 
labors. 

Something  more  remains  to  me.  Not  tortured 
by  the  Presidential  mania,  and  barely  flavored  with 
the  life  at  the  capital — the  Wades  returned  to  their 
Jefferson  home.  The  little  mud  and  forest- 
leagured  town  of  his  law  student  days  had  grown, 
became  long  since  a  beautiful,  thriving  centre  and 
capital  of  one  of  the  largest,  most  populous  and 
wealthy  of  the  farming  counties  of  Ohio.  It  now 
had  the  appearance  of  an  old,  cultured  town,  con 
spicuous  for  fine  residences  and  tastefully  orna 
mented  grounds.  The  Wade  mansion  was  one 
of  the  most  spacious  and  noticeable  of  these. 
Here,  at  seventy,  the  retired  senator  and  his  wife 
renewed,  rather  than  resumed,  their  former  life. 


292  £.  F.   WADE. 

Many  changes  had  occurred.  Many  friends  were 
dead  or  departed.  A  new  generation  were  in 
blooming  maturity.  The  old  house  was  haunted 
with  memories,  cherished  or  sad,  pleasant  or  de 
pressing,  seen  through  a  softening  atmosphere  of 
time.  During  the  black  days,  it  was  a  source  of 
light,  a  centre  of  strength,  courage  and  hope  to 
the  hundreds  of  fainting  men  from  the  wide  region 
around.  How  many  men  and  incidents  were 
recalled  as  the  now  glad  survivors  came  to  wel 
come  them  back.  There  was  the  memorable 
visit  of  the  oldest  brother,  who  pushed  off  first 
from  Feeding  Hills  to  Albany.  He  had  grown 
up  an  all  through  Democrat,  bitter,  intense,  in 
veterate.  It  was  in  the  earlier  years  of  the  rebel 
lion — a  famous  physician  and  surgeon,  he  came 
leisurely  to  visit  his  surviving  brothers  and  sisters. 
From  the  opposite  poles  the  eldest  and  next  the 
youngest  of  Mary  Upham's  boys  met  in  the  Jeffer 
son  mansion  and  joined  battle  royal — the  differ 
ence  being  mainly  the  merits  of  the  respective 
-causes  each  advocated,  and  of  which  he  was  master. 
From  twilight  deep  to  dewy  dawn  the  stormy 
battle  raged.  The  sun  arose  on  their  wrath.  They 
did  not  forget  their  blood,  heated  as  it  became. 
Fiery  as  was  Frank  in  matter  of  temper,  he  had 
the  advantage  of  the  equally  stout  James.  Did  a 
Wade  ever  yield  ?  James  was  not  in  the  least 
subdued  nor  much  enlightened.  Had  the  Demo 
crat  of  that  day  aptitude  for  light  ? — a  question, 
as  Falstaff  said,  to  be  asked.  Later,  the  war 


B.  F.    WADE.  293 

did  for  him  what  it  failed  to  accomplish  for 
the  southern — it  reconstructed  his  views.  He 
lived  to  rejoice  in  his  younger  brother's  career.  A 
Wade  was  never  heard  to  speak  well  of  the 
younger  brothers — however  glad  and  proud  he 
may  have  felt  fc>r_  the  positions  and  distinguished 
services  of  either.  ] 

1  Ohio,  Ashtabula  county,  the  Reserve,  as  the 
whole  country,  had  seen  the  course  of  its  senator 
in  the  Wade-Davis  manifesto  abundantly  vindi 
cated  by  later  light.  That  did  not  detract  from 
the  now  pathetic  glory  surrounding  the  name  of 
Lincoln.  It  did  add  luster  to  the  name  of  Wade. 
With  the  reticence  of  the  Puritan,  neither  his  old 
neighbors  or  he  ever  referred  to  the  subject,  or  if 
they  did  he  replied  as  to  Clayton,  "  We  will  regard 
it  as  settled  by  the  statute  of  limitation."  They — 
many — must  have  been  ashamed  of  many  things 
they  had  said.  He  did  valiant  service  in  the 
Grant  canvass  of  1868.  He  was  a  private  citizen 
now,  not  claiming  any  of  the  privileges  spring 
ing  from  his  years,  which  still  sat  lightly  on  him, 
and  ready  to  meet  the  calls  of  his  old  constituency 
and  party,  as  a  citizen  might. 

It  was  quite  generally  supposed  at  the  capital 
that  President  Grant  would  offer  him  the  depart 
ment  of  the  interior.  Much  was  buzzed  about 
and  in  his  ears  of  it.  So  far  as  he  might  he 
silenced  the  busy  tongues,  and  seemingly  enter 
tained  no  thought  of  it.  He  never  was  in  an 
attitude  of  expectancy  of  any  position,  and  had  to 


294  B-  F- 

be  sought  out  alway  by  it,  as  we  have  abundantly 
seen.     He  did  his  old  work  with  the  old  effective 
ness    in    the    unhappy    Grant-Greek}'   campaign. 
He  was  a  chief  from  the  San  Domingo  commission, 
under  the  nominal  leadership  of  Babcock.  *     He 
was  of  pure  English   descent.      Had  an  English 
man's  instincts  to  dominate  the  earth,  an  Ameri 
can's    aspiration    for    the    advancement    of  large 
interests  by  his  nation.     The  rejection  of  the  treaty 
was  a  grave  mistake,  due  to  Sumner's  unworthy 
hostility.      Whoever  visits  the  islands  can  appre 
ciate  the  meaning  of  geography,  with  any  capacity 
to  apprehend  the  right  uses  of  vast  undeveloped 
resources,  and  should,  in  the  absence  of  reasonless 
prejudice,  see  that  one  of  the  tasks  of  the  American 
people  is  to  help  the  world  forward  by  the  means 
to    be  drawn    from  these   sources.      There  is   no 
argument  against  their  honorable  acquisition  that 
would    not    also    have    barred    the    purchase    of 
Louisiana  and   Florida,  toward  which  their  acqui 
sition     were      two    inevitable    steps.      "  Manifest 
destiny,  "  however  derided,  is  the  law  of  national 
advance,     prematurely    proclaimed,    as    was    the 
senseless  cry,   "  On  to  Richmond,"  and  as  inevita 
ble  of  fulfillment  as   that   proved   in  the   bloody 
sequel,      Mr.  Wade  aided  in  the  state  canvass  of 
1875,  was  a  delegate  to  the  convention  of  1876, 
and    Presidential    elector.       He    very   promptly 

*  "  Wade  was  the  man  of  the  commission,"  said  General  Boynton, 
who  attended  it,  on  his  return. 


B.  F.    WADE.  295 

repudiated  the  Hayes  southern  policy ;  as  for  him 
it  was  inevitable.* 

Mr.  Wade  also  was  sent  under  the  statute  to 
inspect  and  report  upon  the  construction  of  the 
Union  Pacific  railroad.  His  performance  of  that 
duty  was  not  perfunctory.  With  the  thorough 
ness  with  which  he  performed  all  labors,  this  task 
was  executed.  His  report  quite  put  an  end  to  the 
uncertainty  as  to  the  actual  condition  of  that  great 
work.  His  strength  and  vigor  remained,  and 
these  were  but  pleasant  episodes  of  his  later  years, 
which  were  rounding  and  ripening  an  eventful  life 
of  rare  symmetry  and  great  usefulness.  He  was 
among  the  rarely  fortunate  men  of  his  great 
period.  The  country  was  fortunate  in  his  posses 
sion,  fortunate  in  a  man  to  do  many  important 
things  beyond  the  reach  and  strength  and  courage 
of  common  men.  She  never  had  any  cavil  about 
his  compensation  or  reward. 

The  production  of  these  sketches  was  due  to 
the  cherished  life-long  friendship  of  their  subject 
for  the  writer,  and  to  the  memory  of  one  of  the 
dearest  to  his  affections  early  to  fall. 

It  was  due  to  our  countrymen,  the  writers  of 
her  histories  of  the  peoples  and  individuals,  that 
some  continuous  record  be  made,  and  somewhere 
lodged,  of  him,  to  which  reference  may  be  had  at 
least  by  historians. 

The  men  of  to-day  are  too  much  absorbed  in  the 

*  There  was  another  side  to  that.  The  southern  states  were  lost  to 
the  Republicans  by  the  Grant  administration.  There  was  no  use  in 
struggling  further  for  them. 


296  B.  F.    WADE. 

drum  and  trumpet  sketches  of  battles,  the  mere 
mechanics  of  the  war,  to  care  much  for  the  men 
and  their  work,  whose  fire  kept  in  motion  the  great 
heart  whose  mighty  and  steady  beatings,  created 
and  sustained — made  battles  successful  and  fames 
assured,  to  care  much  for  the  career  or  labors  of 
those  who  performed  this  task,  or  what  may  be 
said  of  them. 

Benjamin  Franklin  Wade  died  at  Jefferson, 
March  2,  1878. 

They  made  his  grave  near  the  heart  of  his  life 
long  home,  and  set  at  his  head  a  granite  shaft  less 
enduring  than  the  influence  of  his  deeds  for  truth 
justice,  freedom  and  his  country's  good. 


INDEX. 


Abolition  immediate — Mrs.  Heyrick 129 

Of  Slavery  in  the  Northern  States 120,  121 

Of  Slavery  in  English  colonies 129,  130 

Of  Slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia 248 

Of  Slavery  in  United  States  by  Thirteenth  Amendment. ...... .264 

Sentiment,  rise  of 126-130,  157-161 

Struggle  passed  all  the  stages  of  logical  progress 238 

Advocacy — Its  difficulties  and  value 80,  81,  82,  84,  85,  107 

In  the  Impeachment  trial 281-284 

Adams,  J.  Q. — Champion  of  right  of  petition 131 

Opposed  to  abolition  in  District  of  Columbia 131 

Made  an  abolitionist  by  opposition 131 

Admiralty  Laws  extended  to  Lake  Erie 88 

Statutes  of  Ohio 88,. 89 

Collision  case  between  Wade  and  Fillmore 106 

Ancestors  of  the  Wades  in  America 17,  18,  19,  20,  21 

Andover,  the  Ohio  home  of  the  Wades 47,  48,  49,  50 

Ann  Bradstreet,  the  tenth  muse 18,  20 

Antislavery  Senators  in  Thirtv-second  congress 174 

Ashley,  J  .  M.  — Impeachment  of  the  President 279 

Attorney-Prosecuting,  Wade — elected  in  1835 89 

B 

Bar  of  the  Western  Reserve 77,  78,  105 

Badger's  appeal — Wade's  reply 199 

Banks,   N.    P. — Speaker  of   Thirty-fourth    congress  ;     election 

sectional 206 

Barn  Burners  of  1848 165 

Bench  of  Ohio 71,  72,  108,  109 

Benton,  Thomas  Hart — Estimate  of  Douglas 173  note. 

Elected  to  the  house 192 

Describes  Douglas'  amendment ;  Kansas  bill 193 

Voted  against  the  Kansas  bill 199 

Retirement  and  death 199  n. 

Bingham,  John  A.  —  Prosecutes  Mrs.  Surratt 269  n. 

Controversey  with  Wade  concerning 269  n. 


298  INDEX. 

Manager  in  the  Impeachment  trial 281 

His  speech 284 

Birney,  James  G i3I-I58'  *59 

Vote  for  President  in  1840 159 

Vote  for  President  in  1844  ;  its  significance 164 

Black,  Judgejerry's  estimate  of  Wade's  reply  to  Badger 200  n. 

Blairs,  Montgomery  and  F.  P.,  Jr 239  n. 

F.  P.  Renews  assault  on  Secretary  Chase,  1864 262 

Elaine,  James  Gillespie — Estimate  of  Clay  and  Webster 189  n. 

Meets  Garfield  and  Conkling 263 

Bradstreet,  Governor— Ancestor  of  Wade 18,  19 

Ann — Tenth  muse 18-20 

Mercy — Wife  of  Nathaniel  Wade 21 

Brooks,  Preston  S. — Assaults  Sumner 208,  209 

Not  expelled 214 

Declines  to  meet  Burlingame  in  Canada 214  n. 

Brown,  John— Raid  on  Harper's  Ferry 222,  223 

Bull  Run,  First  Battle  of  ;  Wade  there 244  n. 

Buchanan's  vote  for  President,  1856 217 

Burlingame,  Anson — Challenged  by  Brooks 214  n. 

C 

Cass,  Lewis — Candidate  and  vote  1848 165,  166 

Senator  when  Wade  entered 173 

Introduced  Sumner  to  the  senate 173 

Wade  replies  to  his  Collins  subsidy  speech 181 

"  Noise  and  Confusion  "  speech,  1848 181 

Campaign  of  1840 i49-JS7 

Capital — In  1851,  population,  city,   life 169-171 

Capitol  building . .  , , *7° 

Cameron,  Simon — Compact  with  Wade  and  Chandler 215-16 

Carpetbag  governments,  origin  and  failure  of 286-289 

Chief-Justice  Chase's  view  of 289 

Chandler,  Z.— Compact  with  Wade  and  Cameron 215-16 

Chase,  Salmon  Portland— Senator  from  Ohio 166 

Presented  Mr.  Wade  to  the  senate *72 

One  of  the  five  senators J74 

Pen  sketch  of J79 

Address  on  the  Nebraska-Kansas  bill *93~*94 

Sharp  contest  over  it  with  Douglas 194 

Speech  against  the  bill *95 

Elected  governor  of  Ohio 2OS 


INDEX.  299 

Popular  view  of,   as  secretary  of  treasury ,  .  .250 

Assailed  by  Frank  Blair 262 

Necessary  to  make  Freedmen  citizens 289 

Cheats'  unavailing  appeal  for  Webster  in  1852. 187 

Civil  rights  act  passed 275 

Civil  war,  the — A  logical  result  of  contending  forces 237-238 

Rebels  victims  of  rather  than  criminals 267-268 

Claims  private — Wade  on  committee  of. 177 

Congress  should  not  deal  with 179-80 

Clayton,  John  M.,  returned  to  the  senate 191 

Called  to  account  by  Mr.  Wade 213 

Clay,  Henry — Candidate — Vote  in  1844 162,  164 

Estimate  of r62 

His  compromises  of  1850-51 167 

His  course  toward  Mr.  Webster  in  1852 186,  187 

Death  of. 182 

Collins'  Steamship  Subsidy— Wade's  speech' against 181 

Compromise  measures  of  1850-51 167 

Of  Mr.  Crittenden,  defeated 241 

Mr.  Crittenden's  Resolution  of  July,  1861,  adopted 242 

Congress— The  Thirty-seventh — 

Not  elected  to  suppress  the  Rebellion 237-238 

Convened  in  the  presence  of  armies 239 

Its  leaders  Wade  and  Stevens. 240-241 

The  Crittenden  resolution 242 

Passed — Two  in  the  negative 242-243 

The  men  who  did  not  vote 242-243 

Called  session  July  4,  1861 239-244 

Its  labors 244 

Abolished  slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia 248 

Its  position  in  the  war 250,  259,  261 

Its  appropriations,  labors,  etc 248,  251-261 

Expelled  traitors — Breckenridge,  Bright,  et  al 251-252 

Vallandigham  reconstructs  the  Democracy 254 

Criticises  the  President 255,  256 

Permanent  measures 259,  260-261 

Congress — The  Thirty-eighth — 

Continued  the  work  of  the  Thirty-seventh 262-263 

The  twelfth  and  thirteenth  stats,  at  large 260-261 

Legislation  the  skeleton  of  the  war 261 

The  Thirteenth  amendment — A  monument  of 264 


300  INDEX. 

Congress— The  Thirty-ninth — 

Its  new  men— Its  difficulties 273-274 

Its  labors  and  achievements 275-277 

Congress — The  Fortieth — 

Election,  men  and  work 276,  278,  279 

Civil  Rights  act  passed 275 

Conkling,  Roscoe,  elected  to  the  Thirty-sixth  congress 232 

Speech  on  the  battle  of  Ball's  Bluff 246  n. 

Meets  Garfield  and  Blaine 263 

Transferred  to  the  senate 279 

Corwin,  Thomas,  visited  the  Western  Reserve  in  1840 155 

His  power  as  an  orator 155  n. 

Secretary  of  Treasury  under  Fillmore 172 

Once  a  possible  President 172 

Re-entered  the  house 232 

D 

• 

Day  of  Doom — A  poem  by  Wade's  ancestor 21,  24 

Davis,  Jefferson,  in  the  senate — Thirty-second  congress 174 

Davis,  Henry  Winter,  author  of  the  Wade-Davis  manifesto.  .257,  258  n. 

Democratic  party  in  Ohio,  1839   132,  136 

Causes  of  defeat  in  1840 150,  153 

Elects  Polk  in  1844 — tne  vote l64 

Defeated  in  1848— the  vote 166 

Success  in  1852— the  vote 188,  189 

Divided — defeated  1860 — the  vote - 234,  235 

Its  course  led    to   the   Carpetbag  governments 286,287 

Its  great  men  compared  with   Republicans 286 

Dixon  and  Butler  interrupt  Wade — his  reply 197 

Douglas,  Stephen  A.,  a  senator  when  Wade  entered 173 

Over-estimated  by  associates 177 

Introduced  Kansas  bill 192,  193 

Sharp  contest  with  Chase 1 94 

Speech  on  the  Sumner  assault 210  and  n. 

Course  in  the  Kansas  war 233 

Candidate  for  President,  1860 234 

His  vote 235 

Dudley,  Governor,  of  Massachusetts,  an  ancestor 19 

Ann ,  the  tenth  muse 18,  20 

E 

Erie,  Lake — Useless  to  the  pioneers 51 

Connected  with  tide  water 59 

Admiralty,  laws  of 88,89 


INDEX.  301 


Feeding  Hills'  Parish — Wade's  birthplace 28,  30 

Home  life  there 28 — 40 

Migration  from 41 

Fillmore,  Millard — Meets  Wade  at  the  bar 106 

As  Vice-President,  opposed  Taylor's  administration 172 

Approves  the  compromise  measures  of  1850 172 

Defeat  in  Whig  convention,  1852 186-7 

Candidate  of  the  Knownothings,  1856. .  217 

Carries  Maryland 217 

Free  Soil  Party  rise  in  Ohio,  1848 165 

Presidential  vote 166 

Presidential  vote,  ^852  , .  ...  189 

Fremont,  J.  C.,  brought  forward  by  the  Blairs — his  vote 216 

Freedmen  utterly  incompetent  as  citizens 287,  288,  289 

Supposed  necessity  for  employing  them 287,  288,  289 

Carpetbag  governments  a  failure 286 

G 

Garfield,  James  A.,  on  military  committee 262,  263 

Labors  with  Schenck 262,  263 

Meets  President  Lincoln 262,  263 

New  conscription  bill 262,  263 

Meets  Elaine  and  Conkling. , -263 

Was  to  command — if  force  used  by  President  Johnson 276 

Garrison,  Wm.  Lloyd 130,  158-9 

Giddings,  Joshua  R. — Wade's  first  partner 80 

Censure  of  by  the  house 161 

Speech  on  the  Oregon  boundary 164,  165 

Unites  with  the  Free  Soil  party,  1848 166 

Nominated  for  the  senate 166 

Head  of  the  committee  on  claims 180 

Unites  with  Chase  in  the  Kansas  manifesto 193 

His  district  exchange  him  for  J  ohn  Hut«hins 232 

H 

Hale,  John  P. — One  of  the  group  of  senators 174 

Pen  sketch  of. 179 

Candidate  for  President,  1852 189 

Hammond,  Charles — Articles  on  slavery 130 

Harrison,  William  H. — Nominated  for  President  1839 149-150 

Campaign  of  1840 149-157 

Issues  in   149-157 


302  INDEX. 

Mr.  Wade's  labors  in 99,100,154,155 

Death  and  effect  of  it 157 

Harper's  Ferry — Raid  of  John  Brown 222 

Resolution  of  Mason  in  the  senate  concerning 223 

Wade's  speech  on 224-229 

Heyrick,  Mrs.  Elizabeth — Immediate  abolition 129 

Houston,  Samuel — In  senate  when  Wade  entered  it 174 

Speech  and  vote  against  the  Kansas  bill 198-199 

Hutchins,  John — Defeats  Giddings— Thirty-sixth  congress 232 

J 

Jacobs  Law  Dictionary — Blessed  of  older  lawyers 63 

Jackson's  labors,  etc 149 

Jefferson,  Thos. — His  task 148 

Jefferson  and  Jackson  contrasted 148 

Jefferson  Village— When  Wade  admitted 75 

When  he  retired 291 

Close  of  life  there 291 ,  296 

Johnson,  Andrew — In  the  house — Thirty-second  congress 175 

As  President — views  of  reconstruction. .269  —  271 

Interview  with  Wade — the  fate  of  the  rebels 268 

Coarse  and  reckless  speeches — the  man 275-276 

Quarrel  with  Stanton 280-281 

Quarrel  with  Grant  meantime 281 

Impeachment  and  trial  of 281,  282,  283,  284,  285 

Jury  Trial — Its  importance 76 

K 

Kansas-Nebraska  bill,  January  6,  1854 192 

Bill  assailed  by  Giddings  and  Chase 193 

Sharp  contest  over — Chase  and  Douglas 194 

Wade's  speech  on  the  bill i95-!98 

Bill  passed  both  houses 198-199 

Struggle  for  possession  of. 202,  203,  206,  207,  208 

Memorial  of  New  England  clergy  on 202 

Lecompton  constitution 233-234 

Admitted  into  the  Union 236 

Knownothing  party — (American)  rise  of 204 

Divided  by  slavery . .  217 

Nominated  Fillmore  1856,  vote 217 

L, 

Lake  Erie  in  1821 , 51 

Connected  with  tide  water 59 


INDEX.  303 

Subject  of  admiralty  .....................................  88-9 

Collision  case  —  Wade  and  Fillmore  .........................  106 

Law  and  lawyers  in  the  early  time  .......................  60,  61,  105 

Law  student  life  ........................................  ...65-6 

Law  practice  ........................................  105,  106,  107 

Law  library  of  the  United  States  .....  .......................  219  note 

Lincoln,  Abraham,  elected  1860  —  the  vote  ..........  ...........  235 

Prelusive  debate  with  Douglas  ..............................  234 

Not  elected  to  fight  the  war  ............................  237,  238 

Journey  to  the  capital  .............................  .......   238 

Cabinet  not  warlike  ..................    .  ..................  239 

Stood  colossal  in  the  popular  eye  ............................  250 

Criticised  by  Republicans  in  congress  ................  255,  256,  257 

Plan  of  reconstruction  .............................  258  n.  ,  259 

Wade-Davis  criticism  of  it  .....................  257  258  n.  ,  259 

Meets  Schenck  and  Garfield—  the  draft  of  1863  ..........  263,  264 

Re-elected  1864  —  his  vote  ..................................  264 

Dramatic  close  of  his  life  and  the  war  ........................  264 

Loco  Fouo  party  (Democratic)  —  Origin  of  ...................  103  note 

Logan,  John  A.,  re-enters  congress  .............................  281 

Elected  manager  impeachment  trial  .........................  281 

His  speech  ...............................................  283 

M 

Maroons  —  Runaway  slaves  —  Spanish  ...........................    125 

Mason,  J.  M.  ,  senator  in  the  Thirty-second  congress  ...............  174 

Resolution  on  John  Brown's  raid  ............................  223 

Wade's  speech  on  ....................................  223-229 

Medford—  Ancient  seat  of  the  Wades  .......  ......  .....  ...........  17 

Missouri  Compromise  ....................................  127,  128 

Morgan,  E.  B.,  of  New  York,  rescues  Sumner  ..................  209 


Nebraska-Kansas  bill  by  Douglas  (see  Kansas)  .................  192 

Divided  into  two  territories  .................................  193 

Extent  of  territory  .........................................  195 

Wade's  description  and  speech  ..............................  195 

Bill  passed  ...........................  .  ..............  198,  199 

New  England  ancestors  of  Wade  .............................  17-21 

Transplanting  in  Ohio  ..................................  43~47 

Clergy  on  the  Kansas  bill  ..................................  202 


304  INDEX. 

o 

Ohio— Planting  Puritans  in 43,  44 

judiciary  of-  law   reports 72,  77 

Northern  lawyers  of 104,  105 

Financial  ruin  of  1837 92,  93,  102 

Change  in  business  methods 103,  104 

Black  laws  of 131,  132  n. 

Senate — Mr.  Wade  in 133,  134 

Democratic  legislative  memorial— Wade's  speech 220 

P 

Parsons,  General,  of  the  Revolution 97 

H.  E.,  grandson  of — brother  of  Mrs.  Wade 97 

Removal  to  Ashtabula 97 

Pearce,  James  A.,  chairman  committee  assault  on  Sumner   209 

His  perfunctory  report 209 

Potter,  John  F. ,  challenged  by  Pryor 236 

Thad  Stevens  names  the  weapons 236  n. 

Voted  against  the  Crittenden  resolution 242 

Powers,  Gregory,  speech  in   the  Ohio  senate,   1839 138  n. 

Prosecuting-Attorney  Wade  elected 89 

Prosecution  of  Mrs.  Surratt  by  John  A.  Bingham 269  n. 

Putnam,  Rufus,  planted  a  colony  in  southern  Ohio 43 

Pugh,  George  E. ,  in  the  senate,  presents  the  Ohio  Democratic 

memorial — His  speech 220 

K 

Ranney,  Rufus  P. ,  partner  of  Wade 92 

Rise  at  the  bar 92,  104 

Republican  party,  national,  1856 216,  217 

1860,  vote 235 

Logically  conducted  to  the  war 238 

Its  labors  after  the  war 266,  269,  272,  285 

Its  reconstruction  faulty 286,  287,  288 

Its  freedmen  governments  a  blunder 286-288 

Its  impeachment  of  the  President  a  mistake 281,  284,  285 

Success  in  1866 ...  276-7 

Shows  extraordinary  qualities ...  .277 

Dangerously  powerful 277 

Reserve  the  Western— origin, — sketch  of,  £c 43,  47 

Called  New  Connecticut 44 

Rosekrans — Wade — Caroline — parentage — sketch  of. 97 

Removes  to  Ashtabula 97 


INDEX.  305 

Meets  Wade 99,  100 

Their  marriage,  1841 102 

Home  in  Jefferson — birth  of  children 102  n. 

Life  in  Washington 289-291-292 

Latest  life  in  Jefferson , 292-296 

S 

Schenck,  Robert  C.— Re-enters  congress  from  the  war 262  and  nt 

Chairman  military  committee 262-263 

The  draft  a  failure 262—3 

Passes  an  effective  conscription 263 

Estimate  of  him 262  n. 

The  Fourteenth  amendment  largely  his  work 275 

Scott,  Dred— Case 218-219 

Seward,  Wm.  H. — Eulogy  of  Wade's  labor  on  Erie  canal 58 

Defeats  Marcy  in  1838 149 

One  of  the  five  antislavery  senators 174-175 

Pen  sketch  of. 178 

Leads  antislavery  Whigs,  1852 187 

Position  difficult 252-53 

Popular  vision  of  him  during  the  war 250-51 

Course  in  Johnson's  cabinet 271-272 

Ceased  to  act  with  the  Republicans 273 

Stevens  calls  Payne  a  bungler  „ , 273  n. 

Sherman,  John — Enters  the  house  of  representatives , 205 

Wade's  eulogy  of 224-225 

Shows  high  qualities  in  the  Kansas  war ....  232 

Candidate  for  speaker  Thirty -sixth  congress 232 

Slavery — In  England 119-120 

In  America 120-133 

Immediate  abolition  of — Mrs.  Heyrick 129 

Black  laws  of  Ohio  in  aid  of 131-132^. 

Act  of  Ohio  legislature,  1839,  in  aid  of. 134-137 

Wade's  speech  on 138-144 

Abolished  in  the  northern  states • 120,  121 

Abolished  in  District  of  Columbia 248 

Abolished  in  United  States  by  Thirteenth  amendment 264 

Contest  passed  logically  from  argument  to  war 238 

Speech— Wade's  inaptitude  overcome 81,  82,  85,  86,  87 

American  facility  in 81 

Wade's  supposed  at  Ashtabula,  1840 100-101 

Wade's  Ohio  senate,  1839 i38'I44 

Wade's  Collins'  subsidy 181 


3o6  INDEX. 

Wade's  reply  to  Toombs-Sumner  assault 211 

His  Harper's  Ferry 224-229 

Defends  John  Sherman 224-25 

Wade — the  Rights  of  Freemen  in  territories 229-232 

Speeches  of  counsel  in  the  impeachment  trial 283-284 

Stanton,  Edwin  M, — A  born  warrior 240 

Blair  at  feud  with  him 240  n. 

Revolutionary — unscrupulous 241 

Urged  upon  the  President  for  secretary  by  Wade 248  n. 

Attorney-general  in  Buchanan's  cabinet 248 

His  presence  everywhere  felt 248 

One  of  the  colossal  forms  of  the  war 250 

At  feud  with  President  Johnson 280 

Removed  but  remained 281 

Resists  his  successor  and  is  sued 281 

Stevens,  Thaddeus— Candidate  for  speaker  Thirty-second  con 
gress   176 

Names  the  Pryor-Potter  weapons 236  n. 

Leader  of  the  house 241 

Made  of  Revolutionary  material 241 

Calls  Payne,  the  assassin,  a  bungler 273  n. 

Reports  the  impeachment  of  President  Johnson 281 

One  of  the  managers 281 

His  speech  on  the  trial — Not  a  happy  speaker 284 

Stump  speaking,  origin  of — Introduced  north 154  and  n. 

Sumner,  Charles — Elected  by  coalition 173-179 

Presented  by  Cass — Seat  on  Democratic  side 179 

Chase  and  Sumner 179 

His  Phillipic  against  slavery — Butler 208  and  n. 

Assaulted  by  Brooks 208-209 

Speeches  on— Slidell,  Douglas,   Toombs 209-211 

Wade's  reply  to  Toombs .    ..    211 

Welling's  account  of  the  scene 211  n. 

Report  of  committee  on 209-10 

Personal  effect  of  the  Brooks  assault .214  n. 

Would  make  new  states  of  southern  territory 278 

Symmes,  John  Cleves — Land  grant  on  the  Ohio 43 

T 

Texas — Mr.  Wade's  opposition,  1837 134  n. 

Annexed 164 

Toombs,  Robert — Approves  of  the  Sumner  assault 211 

Denounced  by  Wade 211 


INDEX.  307 

Dr.  Welling's  description  of  the  scene 211  n. 

The  expected  challenge 212  n. 

Wade  would  punish  a  baker's  dozen  of  rebs 268,  269  n. 

U 

Upham,  Mary — Wife  of  James  Wade,  mother  of  B.  F.  Wade 27,  28 

Marriage 28 

Home  in  the  Feeding  Hills 28,  29 

Her  life,  labors  and  children  there 28-37 

Migrated  to  Ohio 41 

Life  on  the  Western  Reserve 67-69 

She  passes  away 69 

V 

Vallandigham,  Clement  C. — Reconstructs  the  Democracy,  1861-62  254 

Van  Buren — Prosecuted  General  Hull,  1814 156  and  n. 

Divorced  the  government  and  banks 149 

His  course  in  1848  ;  defeats  Cass 165 

Return  to  Tammany  1852 185 

Virginia — Dismembered , 253,  254 

Her  course  and  suffering 253,  254 

W 

Wade,  Jonathan — of  England,  plants  at  Medford 17 

Nathaniel  Major — Son  of. 17 

Marries  a  daughter  of  Ann  Dudley  Bradstreet 18 

Generations  of  in  America 21 

James — Fifth  of — Father  of  B.  F 25,  26,  27 

His  mother  grandchild  of  Rev.  M.  Wigglesworth 21 

He  weds  his  cousin,  mother  of  B.  F 28 

Mary  Upham 27,  28 

Home  in  Feeding  Hills  parish 28,  29 

Life  there  ;  their  children 28-37 

B.  F.,  Born  1800 31 

Personal  traits  and  character 13,  14,  15,  16 

Education— New  England  primer,  etc. .  . .  • 3*-39 

Alway  called  Frank,  younger  brother  Ned 32  n-39,  40 

Migrates  to  the  Western  Reserve  1821 41-48-50 

Life  in  the  Ohio  woods 50-56 

Becomes  a  drover 57.  58 

Visits  his  elder  brother  James 57,  58 

Studies  medicine 58 

Works  on  the  Erie  canal 58 

Seward  celebrates  it  in  the  U.  S.  Senate 58  n. 


308  INDEX. 

Returns,  studies  law 61 

Law  and  lawyers  of  that  day 60-66-105 

Law  student  life 65,  66 

Mary  and  James  pass  away 68-70 

B.  F. ,   admitted  to  the  bar 71,  72 

First  case 78 

Practices  law 88 

Partnership  with  J.  R.  Giddings 80,  88 

Great  difficulty  in  speaking— succeeds 81-87 

Elected  prosecuting  attorney 89 

Personally  very  popular go,  91 

Caught  in  the  ruin  of  1837 92,  102 

P  artnership  with  Ranney  (see  Ranney) 92 

Marriage — his  wife  (see  Rosekrans) 97,  102 

Business  extended 104, 105  . 

Meets  Fillmore  at  the  bar 106 

Elected  judge,  1847 109 

His  circuit 109 

His  great  success  on  the  bench no  115 

Overrules  Ohio  supreme  court  and  prevails 112,  113 

Relaxation  of  costs — anecdote 113 

Elected  United  States  senator 114 

Action  of  the  bar 115 

State  senator  (the  politician) 92,  133 

Report  on  legislative  divorces 133 

Opposes  municipal  public  improvements 133 

Kentucky  asks  for  state  fugitive  slave  law 134,137 

Speech  on  the  bill 138-144 

Defeated  for  re-election,  1839 144 

Labors  in  the  campaign  of  1840 99,  100,  154-5 

Washington  as  he  found  it,  1851 169-171 

Enters  the  Thirty-second  congress 171 

The  senate  chamber 172-173 

Some  noted  men 173-176 

One  of  the  five i74~5 

The  senate  an  able  body 175 

On  claims  committee 177 

Speech  on  the  Collins  subsidy 181 

Stirs  upCass 181 

Speech  on  Nebraska-Kansas  bill 195-198 

Reply  to  Badger 199-200-^ 

Judge  Black's  estimate  of  it 2oo-n. 


INDEX.  309 

Reply  to  Toombs — the  Sumner  assault 211 

Dr.  Welling's  account  of  it 21  i-note 

Toombs  did  not  challenge  him 2i2-n. 

Calls  Clayton  to  account 213 

Compact  with  Cameron  and  Chandler 215  216 

Re-elected  to  the  Thirty-fifth  congress 220 

His  position  in  the  senate 220,  221,  240,  241,  250,  251 

Reply  to  Democratic  state  memorial 220 

Speech  on  Harper's  Ferry  Raid 224-229 

Eulogy  of  } ohn  Sherman 224-225. 

Speech  on  the  rights  of  freemen  to  the  territories.  +. 229-237 

At  Bull  Run 244  n.,  245,  246 

Chairman  committee  on  the  war 246 

His  labors — their  extent 247 

Vouched  for  Mr.  Stanton 248- 

Vote  on  expulsion  of  senators 252' 

Voted  for  the  Crittenden  resolution 242-43 

Wade-Davis  manifesto 257,  258 n. 

Interview  with  President  J  ohnson — fate  of  rebels 268-9, 

Believes  Mrs.  Surratt  innocent 269 

Elected  president  of  the  senate — its  significance 277-8-9 

Appearance  in  the  impeachment  trial 282  n. 

His  vote  in  that  trial  Criticised 285  n. 

Senatorial  career  closed 286- 

Compared  with  Thurman,  who  succeeded  him 286 

His  life  in  Washington 289,  290,  291 

Public  men  bitten  of  Washington  life 290,  291 

His  later  life  at  Jefferson 292,  293 

His  brother  James'  visit— Their  battle 292: 

His  San  Domingo  mission 294 

His  inspection  of  the  Pacific  railroad 295 

His  latest  political  labors 293,  294 ,  295 

The  rounded  completeness  of  his  life 295 

His  exit 296 

Reasons  for  this  sketch  of  him 295,  296 

Washington,  as  Wade  found  it,  1851 169-173. 

Congressional  life  there 170-171 

Webster,  Daniel— Candidacy  and  vote,  1852 186 

Choate's  vain  appeal  for  him 187 

Clay's  course  toward  him 187 

His  chagrin  and  death • 188-189  n- 

Weld,  Theodore,  revolt  at  Lane  seminary 130-131 


310  INDEX. 

Welling,  Dr.  J.  C.,  recounts  the  scene  of  Wade-Toombs 211  n. 

Whittlesey  and  Newton,  Wade's  preceptors 59~6i 

Whig  Party — Rise  of  in  1834 133  n. 

Campaign  of  1840 '  . .  149-157 

Campaign  of  1844 162-164 

Success  of  in  1848 164-5 

Disappeared  in  1852 188 

Wilkes,  Commodore,  captures  Mason  and  Slidell 252~53  n- 


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